Jackson completes season sweep

~ The Indians beat Central 60-52 in their distrcit semifinal.

JACKSON -- When Jackson's Jake Leet described teammate Hunter Grantham on Tuesday night, he called him an "animal down low."

Grantham certainly was a force near the basket during the third quarter of the Indians' district contest against rival Central.

With his team ahead by one point entering the second half, Grantham began driving to the basket more. He netted nine points in the third quarter to help Jackson outscore Central by seven points that period.

The Indians held on from there to beat the Tigers 60-52 in their Class 5 District 1 semifinal.

Jackson's Marcus Harris shot over Central's Zach Boerboom during the first half of their Class 5 District 1 semifinal Tuesday. (Aaron Eisenhauer)

"I play better when I go to the rim," Grantham said. "That's what coach [Darrin Scott] has been emphasizing all year: to get to the rim. So I finally did it.

"I was just trying to draw fouls and get in."

Grantham and Leet both tied for the team lead with 17 points apiece.

The Indians (19-7) beat the Tigers for the fifth time in five meetings this season. Jackson advanced to the district title game against Poplar Bluff on Thursday night at 7 p.m., attempting to capture its second straight district title.

Leet said that Jackson's game plan was to play a strong man-to-man defense by getting outside and contesting all of the Tigers' shooters, especially after Central scored seven 3-pointers in the first half against the Indians the last time the two schools met, Feb. 5.

He said offensively his team tried to work the basketball inside first, and then go outside.

Grantham added that Jackson focused mostly on guarding and contesting Central guard Jajuan Bell because of his strong shooting ability.

The Indians went on a 7-0 run in the first 2 minutes, 54 seconds of the game on a basket by Grantham inside, a 3-pointer by Leet and a jumper by Spencer Goodman.

But Central outscored Jackson 9-3 the rest of the quarter, including getting two 3-pointers from Bell in the final 55 seconds, to enter the second period down by one at 10-9.

Jackson and Central stuck close to each other the whole second quarter, and Jackson entered halftime with a 22-21 lead.

Leet said he did not feel his team played well on offense in the first half. The Indians shot 8-for-19 from the field (42 percent).

"We weren't shooting well," Leet said. "We kept screening and we wanted to get it inside and work inside and then work it out."

Scott said it was important to get the basketball inside more to Grantham in the second half to gain momentum offensively.

"In the second half, we made emphasis that we wanted to get the ball inside," Scott said. "[With] Hunter and Spencer, we had a size advantage. And when we got it in there, ... we thought that would collapse their defense because we weren't getting a lot of penetration."

The third quarter was when Grantham began attacking the basket and helping his team gain some breathing room.

Just 16 seconds into the second half, Grantham drove to the basket, scored and drew a foul. He converted his free throw for the three-point play to put the Indians ahead 25-21.

Grantham scored again going to the basket 1:33 later to put his team ahead 27-21.

In all, the senior post player helped his team on a 9-0 run over the first 2:16 of the period to give the Indians some breathing room.

"I felt in the second half we got it inside and they scored some, and that loosened us up some and we started getting more penetration and we got some open looks," Scott said. "That's when we got that little bit of a lead, and they went zone and I think that was because we went inside. That probably had something to do with them going zone there."

Grantham said his size gives him and his team an advantage because when he begins to score and then gets guarded more, the outside game opens.

"[My size] helps out a lot," Grantham said. "We talked before the game about going inside out. They collapse on me and then the guards get a good shot. So it's a pretty good advantage."

Jackson also switched from a man-to-man defense to a zone defense during a few possessions in the third to help out defensively.

"We went into a little bit of zone to mix it up," Leet said. "We had been playing man the whole time. ... I think it helps a lot. We switched to zone when [Central] coach [Drew] Church called a timeout, and we thought he was trying to draw a play up for man. We wanted to confuse him, keep him guessing and not get used to our man defense."

Jackson maintained a safe lead for the entire fourth quarter, leading by as many as 14 and never letting Central close within six points.

Church said Jackson's inside game proved the difference.

"You can't teach that -- size," Church said. "And that is an advantage, especially on the defensive end and on blocked shots and on rebounds."