JACKSON SWEEPS; INDIANS CLAIM DISTRICT CROWN IN CENTRAL GYM

If it was up to the Jackson Indians' basketball team, the Tiger Field House might have its name changed to the Indian Teepee.

The Indians have certainly looked at home in the Cape Central gymnasium.

Friday night in front of a rowdy Cape County-crowd, Jackson picked up its fourth victory of the season on Central's home floor to claim the Class 4A, District 1 Tournament championship over the Tigers 54-47. The victory avenged last year's loss to Central in the title game at Farmington and earned the Indians their first district championship since 1992.

Jackson (21-5) now advances to the 4A sectional Wednesday at the Farmington Civic Center. The Indians will face Lafayette, the No. 1 team in St. Louis and fourth-ranked in the state, which beat Hillsboro 72-40 Friday.

Central, which recorded a 3-7 home mark, finished its season with an 11-15 record. Jackson went 4-0 in the field house, including two victories over the Tigers.

"I love winning at the rival's house; especially winning the district championship," said Jackson senior Brandon Blattel.

The 6-foot Blattel scored 11 points, including two big free throws with 1:02 left to put the Indians ahead 49-45. Blattel's two free throws under the pressure of a noisy Central crowd snapped a 7-0 run that rallied the Tigers from a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit.

"I heard the crowd, but it didn't bother me," Blattel said. "It's just like when you're practicing. You don't think about anybody talking or yelling; you just go up there, shoot them and don't think about anything."

His teammates seemed to follow Blattel's lead. Jackson made three of four free throws in the final 20 seconds to stay on top. The Indians made 17 of 26 for the game.

"Cape battled back and made some big plays, but I'm proud of my kids," said Jackson coach Steve Burk. "When all was said and done, we hit enough free throws and did enough things right to win."

Jackson appeared on the verge of sealing the game earlier in the fourth quarter before Central's Aron Meystedt caught fire. Trailing 47-38 with less than two minutes left, Meystedt made consecutive 3-pointers to close the gap.

Meystedt's second trey turned into a four-point play when he was fouled with 1:05 left. The 6-foot senior made the free toss to close the score to 47-45. All 12 of Meystedt's points came in the fourth quarter.

"Aron had a marvelous fourth quarter for us," said Central coach Brett Reutzel. "You couldn't ask for any more than we gave."

Especially on the defensive end. The Tigers forced 24 Jackson turnovers, but shot just 29 percent from the field (17 of 58).

"We had so many steals, but so many times we didn't finish off 3-on-2 breaks," Reutzel said. "We shot horrendously and Jackson did such a fantastic job in that zone the first half.

"Our scout team played it against us (in practice) and we had trouble scoring on them so I knew it was going to give us some problems."

Central's defense was just as tough, but the Indians made the most of the shots they got. Jackson made 18 of 35 shots from the field (51 percent).

"There's no doubt Cape Central put a huge amount of pressure on us," Burk said. "They came up with one turnover after another, but our guys didn't quit and they hung in there."

After taking a 4-2 lead early in the first quarter, Jackson never trailed again. Jeff Walter scored six of his team-high 13 points in the first quarter as the Indians took a 14-9 lead.

Jackson limited Central to just six points in the second quarter to take a 23-15 lead into halftime. Central made just 6 of 27 shots in the first half (22 percent).

"Our defense has pretty much been the key for us this year," Burk said. "We're not very pretty and we don't play picture book basketball, but we showed quite a bit of grit. Cape had trouble scoring on us."

Jackson opened up a 12-point lead early in the third quarter before Central sliced the margin to seven points entering the fourth quarter. Travis Williamson, a menace to the Indians this season, scored seven points in the quarter to close the score to 37-30.

Central closed to within two points twice in the final quarter. The Tigers missed an open 3-pointer that would have put them ahead with about 30 seconds remaining, but Justin Keen grabbed the rebound for Jackson and was immediately fouled.

Keen made one of two free throws to make the score 50-47, but the Tigers rushed down court and took an off-balance 3-pointer that was well off the mark. Cory Daniel got the rebound, was fouled and made both free throws to seal the game for Jackson.

"We don't beat anybody easy, but we've showed some grit and determination here," said Burk. "Our seniors were our leaders all season and I thought they came through again tonight. Keen and Blattel hit some big free throws and Walter was the man on the boards and on the inside."

Senior Chris Bergerson led Central in his final game with 17 points.