Jackson boys basketball team hits late 3 for 60-59 playoff win over Chaminade

CEDAR HILL, Mo. -- With one chance to finally put the Jackson boys basketball team ahead of Chaminade, Karson King didn't fail.

King buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key to lift the Indians past the Red Devils 60-59 in a Class 5 boys sectional Wednesday night.

King's winning shot came after teammate Braxton McDowell missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 24.1 seconds left and Jackson trailing 59-57. The rebound bounced around until King secured it near the top of the key.

"As soon as I saw it, I was shooting it," a grinning King said after the game. "I hadn't been making it all night. I just caught it, shot it and it went in."

Jackson had to survive a pair of missed free throws from Chaminade freshman William Gladson with 4 seconds remaining. King and Chaminade's Jayson Tatum battled for the rebound, which went out of bounds off King with 0.4 seconds left.

Jackson’s Karson King, front, celebrates with his teammates after their 60-59 win over Chaminade in the Class 5 sectional game Wednesday in Cedar Hill, Mo. (Fred Lynch)

A desperation shot by Tatum at the buzzer failed to draw iron.

King added 16 points, Blake Reynolds 13 and McDowell 12 for Jackson (20-10), which earned a date in Saturday's quarterfinal against DeSmet at 1 p.m. at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo.

It almost didn't happen.

Jackson didn't face many teams this season that could match their height on the front line, but Chaminade could. And the Red Devils also featured Tatum, a 6-foot-7 freshman point guard who already has scouts drooling from several prominent Division 1 schools.

The combination kept the Indians off-balance for much of the first half, which ended with Jackson trailing 30-22. At that point, the Indians were 8 of 22 from the field, including 0 of 8 from 3-point range.

Jackson’s Blake Reynolds shoots over Chaminade’s Grant Hollander during the fourth quarter of their Class 5 sectional game.

Not the recipe of success for Jackson.

"We were a little quick with our shots, I think," said Jackson coach Darrin Scott. "As the game wore on, in the second half I thought we were a lot more patient. We like to work from the inside out, and we weren't doing that in the first half."

That was partially because Jackson's front line of 6-7 Blake Reynolds, 6-8 Brandon Lueders and 6-4 Luke Stevens had their hands full with Chaminade's front line, which featured two players at 6-6 and Gladson, who checks in at 6-7.

"In the first half, I thought they out-toughed us," Scott said. "We started to rebound better in the second half, and I thought that was huge.

"Their bigs are good. If we hadn't toughened up inside in the second half, I don't think we'd have won the game."

Jackson was just 2 of 10 from the field in the first quarter, which ended with Chaminade leading 14-8. The Indians heated up in the second, pulling within 20-16 after King found Reynolds alone underneath for a layup midway through the quarter.

But Tatum, who finished with 17 points along with fellow freshman Tyler Cook, scored four straight points for Chaminade, and the Red Devils closed the half on a 10-6 run to lead 30-22 at intermission.

It didn't take long for Jackson to make a charge. Trailing 32-22, King hit a 3-pointer at the 5:25 mark of the third quarter -- Jackson's first 3-pointer of the game -- to spark a 9-2 run that pulled the Indians within 34-31.

Jackson point guard Josh Daume, who was instrumental in keeping the Indians close in the first half with eight of his team-high 17 points, was finding success penetrating Chaminade's zone defense and kicking the ball out to his teammates on the perimeter for wide-open looks.

"I thought their front line was very good," Scott said. "They're long and athletic. But Daume helped us tonight. He had a huge game."

"Early in the game, we were settling for 3's," Daume said. "We took some quick shots. I think we were tense."

The teams traded points until King took a feed from Daume and converted to knot the score at 38-38 with 48 seconds left in the period.

"I thought we did a better job of being patient on offense and attacking their defense," Scott said. "We were able to execute on our ball screens."

Playing catch-up seemed to take a lot out of the Indians, who allowed Chaminade to open the fourth with a 9-1 run that pushed its lead to 47-39. It was 55-46 when Daume drove the lane for a score, setting off a 9-2 Jackson run that pulled the Indians within 57-55.

Included was a 3-pointer from McDowell that made it 55-51 and breathed life into the Jackson fans.

"You've got to give those guys credit," Chaminade coach Kelvin Lee said. "They just kept battling and battling. [Daume] was really the difference in the game."

Trailing 59-55, King scored on a pretty baseline drive to make it 59-57 with 50 seconds left. Then, with 30 seconds left, Tatum's drive in the lane was cut off by King and Reynolds, and the freshman guard was whistled for traveling, setting up Jackson's final possession.

"I think our youth showed up a bit tonight," Lee said. "Down the stretch, we didn't rebound. They outworked us late in the game, and that was the difference."

"Throughout the season, we've played a lot of games where we came back," Daume said. "I knew we could do it again."

Chaminade 16 16 10 19 -- 59

Jackson 8 14 16 22 -- 60

CHAMINADE (59) -- William Gladson 2, Grant Hollander 11, Andrew Kleinlein 5, Jayson Tatum 17, Jack Hummell 7, Tyler Cook 17. FG: 24, FT: 10-18, F: 12. (3-pointers: Hollander 1, Kleinlein 1. Fouled out: none)

JACKSON (60) -- Josh Daume 17, Braxton McDowell 12, Karson King 16, Blake Reynolds 13, Brandon Lueders 2. FG: 22, Ft; 12-19, F: 15. (3-pointers: McDowell 2, King 2. Fouled out: Luke Stevens)