Jackson Center vs Springfield Catholic Central

Piqua High School always has a nice crowd, even for early tournament basketball. A host for the smaller divisions in the area, Piqua sees many of the small, rural towns north of Dayton come together for their opening action. Game #4 of the day featured two small schools from contrasting cities. Jackson Center made the “shorter” trip to Piqua from just North in Shelby County while Springfield Catholic Central came across I-70 from Springfield.

Jackson Center left no doubt settling in with the shorter trip. An 8-0 start to the game forced Catholic Central to regroup early. Turnovers and 2nd chance opportunities were killing the Irish as they couldn’t get a good look on the offensive end, but were allowing Jackson Center to add to the lead by not finishing possessions. The Irish wouldn’t get their first points of the game until the 3:11 mark on a free throw. While their first field goal would come along a few minutes later, the Irish certainly had dug themselves a hole early on, trailing 16-3 after the first break.

As the 1st quarter ended, Jackson Center began to struggle a bit with their ball security. While the Tigers were winning the 50/50 battles, they were getting a little sloppy with the ball and not executing when it mattered. Defensively the Tigers remained solid.

As the 2nd quarter got under way, Zac Thompson (Catholic Central), began to get something working offensively with 2 straight buckets in the paint. The 6-foot-7 senior Center was the tallest on the floor and taking advantage of the looks he could get at the rim. Owen Young would contribute with a transition layup himself in the quarter. The Irish were trying to get their offense at the rim, especially after Reed Platfoot picked up his 2nd foul in the middle of the quarter. Jackson Center kept him in the game and for good reason. Platfoot could defend, but Preston Serr and Carter Klopfenstein were making shots on the perimeter for the Tigers, allowing them to keep building their lead. Jackson Center would add to the lead and go into the half up 36-18.

Fans of Catholic Central would notice Keegan Guenther, the OHC South Division Player of the Year, was not getting the ball in his hands. When he did have the ball, he did not have a shot chance. The 2nd half strategy for Catholic Central was immediately to get him involved. Two-man games, ball screens and rescreens were the keys as the Irish tried to get him the ball but Lucas Heitkamp did an excellent job defending. The Irish again struggled to get the ball in the basket with their first points of the half coming midway through the quarter. The positive news? Jackson Center was also struggling to score. Adding to the madness, Catholic Central shifted to a 2-3 zone, which held the Tigers to just 2 points once the shift happened. The Irish would benefit as the deficit at the quarter break was 42-29 in favor of Jackson Center.

The offensive struggles continued as both teams saw the ball not going through the hoop. Catholic Central would cut the deficit to 11 points, but Jackson Center would again find  rhythm on offense. The shots started falling again, and as quickly as the Irish thought they could grab a lead, the Tigers squashed it. After the dust settled, Jackson Center would walk away with a convincing 59-38 victory to advance and face Mississinawa Valley in the District Semifinals.