JACKSON TEAMS SPLIT IN 4A SECTIONALS; LAFAYETTE FINALLY PUTS TRIBE AWAY

FARMINGTON -- Competing against nationally-ranked Lafayette in Wednesday night's Class 4A sectional at the Farmington Civic Center, Jackson High's boys basketball team showed no fear.

Looking up at 6-foot-11 Lancers' center Robert Archibald, the Indians went right at Lafayette's most intimidating player in the paint.

But in the end the Indians had no answer for a quick scoring spurt by Lafayette at the beginning of the fourth quarter as the Lancers ended Jackson's season with a 45-32 loss.

Lafayette, ranked 22nd in USA Today and fourth in the state with a 28-1 record, now advance to Saturday's quarterfinals at the University of Missouri-St. Louis to play Francis Howell North.

Jackson, coming off its first district title since 1992, ended its season with a 21-6 mark.

"Our effort was tremendous for four quarters," said Jackson coach Steve Burk. "I think they just finally wore us down."

After missing an opportunity to close the margin at the end of the third quarter, Jackson trailed just 29-26 entering the fourth quarter.

But Lafayette got two quick scores to begin the fourth quarter on a dunk by Archibald and a layup from B.J. Jefferson. Thirty seconds into the final quarter, the Indians trailed 33-26.

"That was crucial," said Burk. "We had a chance to tie it or pull to within one at the end of the third quarter, but then the lead ended up being seven. I think they finally wore us down."

Lafayette added another basket with 5:07 left, then shot free throws the rest of the game to hold on for the win.

"We felt if we could get a little (scoring) spurt we'd be okay," said Lafayette coach Dave Porter. "That four-point swing at the beginning of the fourth quarter was really big."

The Lancers' fourth-quarter start marked Lafayette's biggest lead to that point in the game at six points. Jackson scored just six points in the fourth quarter and had only 10 in the second half.

"I thought our defense was really up to the task," Porter said. "It really kept us in the game until we hit that spurt."

Jackson could say the same thing. Lafayette was hardly an offensive powerhouse against the Indians, shooting just 40 percent from the field (17 of 43).

"Believe it or not, coming into this game we were on a tear offensively where we hardly missed a shot," Porter said. "But we hadn't been playing against Jackson's defense either."

Scott Brewster shook off early foul trouble to finish with a game-high 17 points for Lafayette. Archibald added 11 and Terry Lanney 10 for the Lancers.

Jackson seniors Jeff Walter and Justin Keen, both 6-foot-5, led the Indians in the final game of their high school careers. Walter led the Indians with 11 hard-earned points on the inside and Keen finished with 10.

"Jeff was terrific and we did a great job of getting him the ball," said Burk. "It's tough to play against a guy that's 6-11, but I thought Jeff played great."

Trailing 13-10 after one quarter, Walter and Keen teamed up in the second quarter to give the Indians their only lead of the game. Walter started the quarter with an inside basket, then went to the other end of the court for some defensive exploits.

Walter blocked a Lancers' shot well beyond the playing surface that sparked the Jackson fans that filled one-half of the civic center.

After a score by Lafayette to make the score 15-12, Walter brought the Jackson faithful back to their feet with a dunk off a fast-break pass from senior Brandon Blattel to close the margin to one point.

Keen took over from there, scoring the Indians' next six points off two 3-pointers. Keen's first three tied the score at 17-17 and his second brought the Indians to within one point of Lafayette 21-20.

Walter finally put Jackson ahead 22-21 at the 1:32 mark with two free throws. But the Lancers got a bucket from Jefferson with 1:12 left to take a 23-22 halftime lead.

"Our execution was better the first half than in the second half, but I cannot fault any of my players' effort tonight," said Burk. "I thought our kids played with great effort and heart. I'm proud of the way we played and I'm proud of this season."