Jackson outsizes, outmatches Oakville

The Jackson Indians boys basketball team defeated the Oakville Tigers 69-39 on Friday at Jackson High School. The Indians were led on offense by Kole Deck with 18 points, followed by Judd Thoma and Blayne Harris with 16 and 14, respectively.

Both teams began the game slow with Jackson not scoring until the four-minute mark and Oakville until the two-minute mark. Once both teams got their first buckets, the Indians took over and rattled off a huge run to take a 20-5 lead after the first quarter.

Jackson head coach Kory Thoma said the team had a little too much energy to start because it was senior night and the boys were excited.

“I thought we went from the get-go, we had too much energy to start and we kind of threw the ball off the walls, but that's to be expected with it being senior night,” Thoma said. “But once we settled in and our defense stepped up we were able to push in transition and that was a big key tonight.”

In the second quarter, the Indians got whatever they wanted on offense while stifling the Tigers on defense. Oakville did not make it any easier on themselves with poor shot selection and many unforced turnovers. Jackson took a 42-16 lead into the halftime break.

The second half of the game was essentially a repeat of the second quarter, Jackson dominated on both ends and forced the running clock in the fourth. The Indians put in their reserves early and cruised to the 30-point victory.

Thoma said he is very pleased with where his team is right now.

“We're heading in the right direction, we have all of February to fine-tune and harness what we’ve been talking about in practice,” Thoma said. “We have the back half of the season to get ready for districts.”

The Indians will travel to take on Ft. Zumwalt North on Tuesday before hosting fellow SEMO Conference school and the #1 team in Class 3 New Madrid County Central on Friday at 7:30 p.m.