The Central boys basketball team chokes Jackson offense after break

Central senior James Lane hopped on a friend's back and rode around the gym with his index finger raised in celebration.

The gregarious post player's face beamed with excitement Friday night as he high-fived anyone who extended a hand.

"I really couldn't describe it right now," he said. "I'm just off the wall right now. A lot of energy."

Lane and his Tigers teammates defeated archrival Jackson 46-32 to claim the Class 5 District 1 boys basketball title in a stuffed home gym.

Lane joined his teammates in cutting down one of the nets after winning the program's first district title since 1997.

Jackson's Zach McDowell drives around Central's Zach Boerboom on Friday.

"That's one of the best feelings in the world right there," Lane said. "It's crazy."

The Tigers' defense suffocated the Indians in the second half. Jackson failed to score in the third quarter and shot 19 percent (4 of 21) after halftime.

"No special recipe or anything like that," Central coach Drew Church said. "We just got up and guarded them. Now granted they had some shots that went in and out, but we were able to rebound."

Jackson actually led by a point at the intermission, but its offense went stagnant after the break. The Indians went 0 of 9 from the field and missed two free-throw attempts in the third quarter.

"I thought our first three or four shots were all good looks, just didn't go in," Jackson coach Darrin Scott said. "We kept guarding them. To be honest, in that third quarter, we were lucky to compete in the same game. After the first four shots didn't go in, I thought we started forcing them up."

Jackson players react during the fourth quarter of Friday's Class 5 District 1 title game.

While Jackson was missing from the field, Central senior Curtis Branch caught fire. He hit a jumper to give his team the lead then popped a pair of 3-pointers for a 30-23 advantage.

"I seen that I wasn't penetrating," Branch said. "I had to open up some things. I had to get involved with my teammates who were working hard. I had to give full effort."

Jackson senior Bobby Clark said his team started sensing urgency to score after Branch's second 3-pointer, which came with 4 minutes, 52 second left in the quarter.

"They came out and scored a couple buckets and we started feeling some pressure, I think," Clark said. "We kind of rushed our shots and couldn't get the ball on offense like we wanted to. We didn't score like we need to. We missed the first couple shots and then it was just kind of building for us because they kept scoring and we couldn't get anything to fall."

Jackson (15-11) finally dented the scoreboard in the second half when Clark hit a shot from in close with 6:33 left in the fourth quarter. That ended Central's 14-0 run after the intermission, but Jackson never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

Central students celebrate their team's 46-32 victory over Jackson in the Class 5 District 1 title game Friday.

"Coach told us to bring up the intensity, and that's what we did," Central junior T.J. Tisdell said about the second half.

Tisdell was the reason Central (20-5) stayed close in the first half. The Tigers kept feeding Tisdell in close, and he danced around Jackson 6-foot-8 junior John Meyer to lay it in.

"My shots were falling, and a credit to Curtis," Tisdell said. "He was giving me the ball in my position. I just felt comfortable and scored it."

The 6-5 Tisdell went 5 of 9 from the field and scored 12 points before halftime.

"T.J. did a good job the first half of going right at Meyer," Church said. "Meyer is big and he's long. He did a good job of shot faking and getting around his long arms. We were just going to him and he did a heck of a job."

Central's Andrew Williams dribbles up the court as Jackson's Tyler Rhodes defends Friday.

Tisdell's effectiveness forced Scott to change his defensive alignment. Scott switched Clark to guarding Tisdell, which helped slow down the Tigers post player.

"John became our help man and did a good job of that," Scott said. "I thought when we did that, I thought we did a good job of containing. [Tisdell] does a really good job of spinning to the rim and scoring."

Jackson gained the lead in the first half by shooting well from in close. The Indians went 7 of 10 on 2-point shots but 2 of 10 from long range. They recently have enjoyed success from 3-point range, but that wasn't the case Friday. Jackson went 3 of 17 (18 percent) on 3-pointers.

"We want to get the ball inside, attack the basket, feed the post," Scott said. "But they were collapsing and giving 3-point shots. The last couple games, we've knocked down those shots, which is a good balance."

Central's attention now turns to Wednesday's sectional game against McCluer North, which beat Hazelwood Central 60-44 on Saturday. Wednesday's tip is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Farmington Civic Center.

Lane preferred to focus on laughing and celebrating with his friends Friday night.

He's trying to enjoy every second because he knows what's coming.

"A lot of hard practice," Lane said, the lone time the smile disappeared, if only for a second. "Getting yelled at. Got to put it behind us."

Jackson 11 12 0 9 -- 32

Central 11 11 10 14 -- 46

JACKSON (32) -- Zach McDowell 7, John Meyer 2, Bobby Clark 10, Caleb Newcomer 3, Tyler Rhodes 6, Brad Clary 2, Braxton McDowell 2. FG 13, FT 3-10, F 10. (3-pointers: Newcomer 1, Rhodes 2. Fouled out: none)

CENTRAL (46) -- James Lane 4, Zach Boerboom 3, T.J. Tisdell 18, Andrew Williams 6, Curtis Branch 14, David Watts 1. FG 14, FT 15-24, F 10. (3-pointers: Williams 1, Branch 2. Fouled out: none)