Jackson nips Notre Dame boys for third place at SEMO Conference tourney

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Jackson High School boys basketball team used a comeback to bounce back from a lopsided loss.

Fifth-seeded Jackson rallied past third-seeded Notre Dame 46-40 in Friday night's third-place game at the SEMO Conference tournament.

That came after the Indians were blown out of the Sikeston Field House by the host squad 70-36 in Thursday's semifinals.

"It was nice to redeem ourselves," Jackson senior forward Zach McDowell said. "That's the good thing about this tournament -- you have a chance to come back right away."

Jackson improved to 3-2 while the Bulldogs fell to 1-2. All of Notre Dame's games were in the tournament.

Jackson senior Zach McDowell, front, and Notre Dame senior Jacob Tolbert react to a call during Friday's game.

"All three games we've had double-digit leads. We can't hold leads," Notre Dame coach Kevin Roberts said. "We've got no go-to guy right now. Nobody wants to step up and take charge."

It looked for a while Friday like the Indians might be run out of the building for the second night in a row.

The Indians, struggling against Notre Dame's pressure defense and laboring to score once they did break the press, trailed 12-4 after one quarter. They fell behind 18-6 in the second period.

"Their pressure bothered us. We were tentative," Jackson coach Darrin Scott said. "We were lucky our defense kept it close in the first half."

Notre Dame led 22-15 at the intermission and boosted its advantage back to 12 points (31-19) in the third quarter.

McDowell then keyed a flurry that brought the Indians within striking distance.

McDowell scored six straight points, followed by a basket from senior forward Bobby Clark, as Jackson closed the quarter with an 8-0 run to make it 31-27.

"Coach gave us a good speech at halftime," Jackson senior forward Brad Clary said. "We hung in there."

The fourth quarter, which was tight all the way, started with four straight Jackson points.

Senior guard Tyler Rhodes drained a 3-pointer and McDowell hit 1 of 2 free throws to complete a 12-0 run as the Indians forged a 31-31 tie.

After Notre Dame went back ahead, Jackson finally gained its first lead of the night on McDowell's steal and layup that made it 38-36 with 2 minutes, 56 seconds left.

Notre Dame tied it at 38-38, but McDowell's follow shot with 2:05 left sent Jackson back ahead 40-38.

The Indians never relinquished the advantage as they scored eight of the last 10 points over the final 2:05.

"I thought the key was our toughness," Clary said. "We hit shots, did what we had to do."

Clary made two free throws at the 1:40 mark to put Jackson up 42-38.

It was 42-40 when Notre Dame had a chance after a Jackson turnover, but the Bulldogs missed a shot.

After a Jackson timeout, the Indians ran some clock and made several nice passes leading to a dunk by 6-foot-8 junior center John Meyer with 36 seconds left.

After another Notre Dame miss, junior guard Caleb Newcomer made two foul shots with 14 seconds remaining for the final margin.

"I was really proud of them to come back like we did," Scott said.

McDowell scored a game-high 14 points, 11 in the second half. Several of his baskets came after offensive rebounds.

"Coach told me at halftime to crash the boards," McDowell said. "We executed in the second half and found our groove."

Said Scott: "I told Zach to hit the boards. He was an animal in the second half."

Clary followed with 11 points. He started the Indians' season opener but has come off the bench since.

"I started the first game and didn't play real well," Clary said. "I like coming off the bench. It relieves the pressure off me."

Said Scott: "This is Brad's first year to get varsity experience. I think he's comfortable coming off the bench."

Senior guard Derek Landewee was Notre Dame's only double-figure scorer with 11 points.

Jacob Tolbert, a 6-7 senior forward and Division I prospect who is the Bulldogs' only returning starter from last season, had just nine points.

"Teams are double-teaming Jacob and we're struggling to score right now," Roberts said. "But you see the potential. ... We'll get it together because we work hard."

Jackson 4 11 12 19 -- 46

Notre Dame 12 10 9 9 -- 40

JACKSON (46) -- Caleb Newcomer 4, Tyler Rhodes 6, Zach McDowell 14, Bobby Clark 7, Brad Clary 11, John Meyer 4. FG 16, FT 12-15, F 13. (3-pointers: Rhodes 2. Fouled out: none)

NOTRE DAME (40) -- Derek Landewee 11, Jonathan Lynch 2, Jordan Reddin 2, Nathan Meystedt 4, Joseph Siebert 3, Alex Beussink 3, Jacob Tolbert 9, Cody Heisserer 6. FG 15, FT 7-11, F 19. (3-pointers: Landewee 1, Siebert 1, Beussink 1. Fouled out: none)