Jackson boys basketball team rallies for 73-66 victory

The Jackson High School boys basketball team picked up a much-needed win thanks to a big comeback Friday.

Jackson celebrated Senior Night with a stirring 73-66 victory over Farmington. The Knights led by 10 points with a little more than four minutes remaining.

"It was a great game," Jackson senior center John Meyer said after the Indians outscored the Knights 34-14 in a wild fourth quarter. "We started out a little rocky, but we just kept believing. We kept playing."

The Indians, who had lost six of their previous seven games -- the last three to area powerhouses Charleston, Notre Dame and Sikeston -- improved to 13-9.

"We've been playing some good teams. It feels pretty good to win," Meyer said.

For most of the game it didn't look like the Indians would get to experience that feeling.

Jackson was ahead 18-15 after one quarter before the Knights took control. They grabbed a 34-26 halftime lead and expanded that to 52-39 entering the final period.

"I remember we had a timeout and I jumped on them," Jackson coach Darrin Scott said. "I told them you need to control your effort, make something happen."

The Indians finally did that, rallying to go up 63-61 on a basket from in close by junior forward Luke Stevens with 2 minutes, 23 seconds remaining.

Farmington regained a 65-63 lead before the Indians made their final push.

Sophomore swingman Karson King scored inside with 1:02 left to forge a 65-65 tie, then Jackson forced a turnover when Farmington could not get the ball past mid-court in 10 seconds.

Senior guard Caleb Newcomer, who scored 16 points in the fourth quarter, drained a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left to put Jackson ahead 68-65.

Farmington missed a shot and Jackson rebounded. Most people in the gym probably expected the Indians to run as much clock as possible before Farmington would have to foul.

Newcomer had other ideas. He drilled another 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining to make it 71-65. His two free throws 10 seconds later iced the victory.

"At that point I was pretty hot. I figured I could put them away," said Newcomer of his decision to fire the final 3-pointer. "I'm sure coach didn't like it."

Said Scott with a smile, "If he was on my side [of the court] I might have tried to grab him. He was playing with a lot of confidence. He got caught up in the moment."

Newcomer finished with 20 points, making five of Jackson's 12 3-pointers.

The 6-foot-9 Meyer led the Indians with 21 points -- 15 in the second half. He had three dunks, including a two-handed follow jam off a missed shot.

"It was good," said a grinning Meyer. "I just went up and knew it [the miss] was coming off."

Junior guard Braxton McDowell added 12 points -- all on 3-pointers.

Farmington 15 19 18 14 -- 66

Jackson 18 8 13 34 -- 73

FARMINGTON (66) -- Evan Dunivan 3, Monis Zereik 14, Jordan Ankrom 1, Doug Warren 18, Roper Garrett 22, Logan England 8. FG 25, FT 14-21, F 18. (3-pointers: Dunivan 1, England 1. Fouled out: Garrett)

JACKSON (73) -- Josh Daume 8, Caleb Newcomer 20, Braxton McDowell 12, Karson King 8, John Meyer 21, Luke Stevens 4. FG 25, FT 11-16, F 15. (3-pointers: Daume 2, Newcomer 5, McDowell 4, King 1. Fouled out: none)