Jackson boys basketball team pulls away from Oran after halftime

The Jackson Indians changed their focus in the second half.

They went inside to their height advantage instead of shooting the open 3-pointer.

The adjustment worked.

The fifth-seeded Indians (6-2) outscored 12th-seeded Oran (4-4) 17-6 in the third quarter and rolled in the second half to a 58-33 victory in the opening round of the Southeast Missouri Christmas tournament Monday.

"Right off the bat, we tried to get the ball into the paint," Jackson coach Darrin Scott said. "I thought we did a better job with our bigs posting and catching the ball at the high post and then we made a second pass. In the first half, I thought we were running a lot of quick offense, whether that was a 3 or if it was in the post, we took the first option. In the third quarter, I thought we did a better job of not taking the first option or making the extra pass."

Jackson enjoyed a serious height advantage, with four players listed 6 foot 5 or taller compared to none for the Eagles.

That advantage led to a much more efficient field-goal percentage in the second half for the Indians.

Jackson shot 12 of 25 (48 percent) in the second half compared to 3 of 15 (20 percent) in the first half from inside the arc.

"We decided our outside game wasn't what we wanted," Jackson junior Braxton McDowell said. "We wanted to get the ball inside and score in the post. They're easier buckets than shooting the 3."

Added Oran coach Joe Shoemaker: "We just kind of talked about packing it in. It's not that they can't shoot 3s, it's just you have to pick what you want and we'd rather let them try to make 3s than kick it inside to the big kids, so we just tried to pack it in with our guards."

Jackson's offense started clicking in the third quarter, while the defense limited Oran.

The Eagles missed their first nine shots of the third quarter as Jackson forged ahead.

"The second quarter we didn't do a very good job hedging out on their 3s and they were shooting the ball well," Scott said. "So we didn't want it to turn into a 3-point shooting contest. I thought we did a good job of putting some pressure on them and forcing a few turnovers [in the second half]."

The Indians used a barrage of 3-pointers in the first half to gain the upper hand.

McDowell led the charge for Jackson.

The sharpshooting guard buried five 3-pointers in the first half and scored a game-high 15 points, all in the first half.

"I've been off quite a bit this season, and I finally decided I was going to make some shots," McDowell said. "I've been practicing more, so I guess I finally kind of pieced it together."

Oran 5 16 6 6 -- 33

Jackson 16 8 17 17 -- 58

ORAN (33) -- Kody Moore 12, Seth Ressel 9, Blake Carlyle 4, Alex Heuring 6, Adam Schaefer 2. FG 15, FT 0-1, F 10. (3-pointers: Moore 2, Ressel 1. Fouled out: none.)

JACKSON (58) -- Caleb Newcomer 12, Braxton McDowell 15, Skyler Steele 3, Karson King 4, Logan Green 2, John Meyer 8, Josiah McGuire 4, Luke Stevens 10. FG 23, FT 4-8, F 7. (3-pointers: Newcomer 2, McDowell 5. Fouled out: none)