JHS DOWNSIZES P'VILLE PIRATES; INDIANS' SIZE A KEY IN 58-47 WIN

JACKSON -- At 6 feet 6 inches tall, Perryville senior Paul Weinkein has grown used to looking down on the Pirates' competition.

Friday night at Jackson High, Weinkein was just another tall tree in a forest full of Indians. With four players 6-5 or taller, Jackson kept Weinkein in check as the Indians won 58-47.

The win was Jackson's 11th in a row, improving the Indians to 16-3. Perryville dropped to 10-9.

Weinkein -- who's brother, Bruce, is a 6-11 freshman starter for the University of Akron -- picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter and wasn't a factor until it was too late.

"He's a very good player," said Jackson coach Steve Burk of Weinkein. "We were fortunate he got in foul trouble and had to sit out some of the first half."

Friday's officials called a tight game from the start and it hurt the smaller Pirates. Weinkein picked up his second foul with 4:19 left in the first quarter.

"Even though we're a slim team size-wise, we still like to play a physical game," said first-year Perryville coach Dean Lewis. "When Paul got those two fouls right away, that took him out of his game."

Weinkein didn't get back on his game until the fourth quarter when he scored 12 of his 14 points. But Jackson already had a 42-31 lead and 6-5 senior Jeff Walter scored eight of his game-high 22 points in the final frame to close out the win. Jackson's Cory Daniel, a 6-6 junior, added 10 points in the contest.

"I knew going into the season if we ran into teams with Jackson's size, we're just going to struggle with them," said Lewis. "We need Paul out there because we're not half as good a team without him on the floor.

"With him out there, we're a pretty darn good team."

Weinkein may have missed most of the first half, but the Indians lost a big player of their own in the first quarter when 6-5 senior Justin Keen left with an ankle injury. He didn't return to the game and may miss Tuesday's big game at Charleston.

"Keen's very questionable for Tuesday," Burk said. "Our trainer thinks it's a ligament so we're going to ice it, keep him off it and see how it looks Monday."

After falling behind 4-0 to start the game, Jackson used an 8-0 run without Keen to take the lead for good. Both teams struggled with turnovers, committing seven apiece in the quarter, as the Indians went ahead 15-10.

Things cleaned up in the second quarter as both teams handled each other's defensive pressure better. Perryville made all five of its free throws in the quarter and Jackson made 7 of 8 to hold a 30-23 halftime lead.

Jackson opened the third quarter with a 7-0 run to take a 37-23 lead and the Pirates never got closer than five points the rest of the game. That came with 3:26 left on Weinkein's eighth point of the quarter that made the score 47-42. But a 9-0 scoring run put the Indians up 56-42 and sealed the contest.