Jackson uses balanced offensive attack to knock off Kennett

The Jackson Indians boys basketball team defeated the Kennett Indians 60-44 on Friday at Jackson High School. Kole Deck and Judd Thoma combined for 43 points as the Indians dressed in red and black outlasted the Indians in black and gold.

Jackson head coach Kory Thoma said the ball movement and slowing down helped with the offensive balance.

“At the beginning of the game, we were taking quick shots and our biggest halftime adjustment was to keep the ball moving more,” Thoma said. “Once we got into the post, we had some divers and passed them the ball much better in the second half than in the first.”

Jackson got off to a sluggish start as Kennett jumped out to an early 11-5 lead forcing Jackson into a quick timeout. After the timeout, Jackson’s offense exploded into a 12-2 run to end the quarter with a 17-13 lead.

Kennett knocked down some threes in the second quarter to keep the game from getting out of hand. Jackson maintained their four-point lead to go into the halftime break up 26-22, Thoma said he was proud of how his team responded defensively after Kennett started so well.

“We started a little slow in the first quarter and all that momentum was swinging in Kennett’s direction,” Thoma said. “We did a little better job guarding the ball in the second quarter and got to a lead headed into halftime.”

Just like in the first quarter, an 11-5 run opened the third quarter but this time it was a Jackson run. Kennett was able to slow down Jackson some but the home team Indians still held a 12-point 43-31 lead after the third.

In the fourth, Jackson continued to roll and ran away with the win, Thoma said the offense looked great in the second half but he would like to see more focus and concentration.

“I thought in the third quarter in those first four minutes we really got going in transition. We rebounded at the rim a lot more and stopped taking some bad shots,” Thoma said. “So third quarter and the first part of the fourth quarter we played well, but we got to get all together and focused.”

Jackson will be off for a week before they host undefeated Ladue Horton Watkins on Friday at 7 p.m.