Indians battle pressure in fifth meeting with Tigers

Central's Jajuan Bell drove toward the basket during Tuesday's game. [Click to enlarge]

JACKSON -- The outcome of Jackson-Central V was the same as the previous four meetings this season, but this one counted most.

It ended Central's season at 11-15, and it allowed Jackson to move on to the Class 5 District 1 championship game, which will be played Thursday night in Jackson.

It could have resulted in a disastrous turn of events for Jackson if the Tigers' familiarity gave life to an upset. After all, Central already had lost four times to the Indians.

"Really, what pressure do we have," Central coach Drew Church said when reflecting on the pregame expectations.

The pressure squarely was on top-seeded Jackson and coach Darrin Scott, whose team had won the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament and had a share of the SEMO Conference championship.

Jackson coach Darrin Scott talked to his players at the end of the first quarter of the Class 5 District 1 semifinal Tuesday in Jackson. (Aaron Eisenhauer) [Click to enlarge]

The Indians had beaten Central in just about every way in three different venues -- edging the Tigers in overtime at Farmington at the start of the year, crushing them by 20 at the SEMO Conference tourney in Sikeston, winning by 12 in the Christmas tourney at the Show Me Center and returning to that venue just 14 days ago to rally from 17 down for a three-point win.

The Indians won the four previous meetings by an average of 9.75 points, serving as a prediction for the second half Tuesday, when Jackson pulled away from a one-point halftime lead for a 60-52 triumph.

The previous outcomes could have led to complacency for a Jackson team that has aspirations of bettering last year's sectional showing.

"When you flip a coin five times, after the first four times, the odds on the next one are still 50-50," Scott said. "That's what we talked about with the kids. Once the game starts, the first four don't matter."

Jackson, now 19-7, is a bit better than a 50-50 proposition with seniors Hunter Grantham, Spencer Goodman and Jake Leet leading the way.

"When you play five times against them, your record is not going to be good," Church said. "With those three shooters, they're tough to defend. If you key on one, one of the other guys is going to have a good game. They're tough to defend, and they're tough to play against offensively with their size."

Central's defensive specialist, 5-foot-10 senior Derek Walker, spent different parts of the night matched up against the 6-3 Leet, the 6-6 Goodman and the 6-5 Grantham.

"We play him against who we think the biggest threat is," Church said, "and he usually delivers."

But Central, which often has four guards on the floor, never came up with the successful solution for matching up with Jackson's size.

While Leet, Goodman and Grantham combined for 45 points, senior Matt Lang chipped in with 11.

"When you play a team as much as we played them, you have an idea how they're going to react to things," Lang said. "They're a physical team. They play tough and they're going to get up in your face every time."

On the other end of the floor, Lang's job was getting in the face of Jajuan Bell, who, Lang said, "is so quick, such a good shooter that if you give him a step, he's going to stick it in your eye."

But since the Tigers didn't have that deadly shooting Tuesday night -- missing their first six shots of the game and first five of the second half -- they couldn't outgun the Indians either. They hit 17 of 47 shots, knocking down 10 3-pointers.

"Cape Central is an unusual team," Scott said. "They've got four guards who can shoot it and take care of the ball. When they're shooting the ball well, they present tough matchups."

That's how the Tigers finished fourth in the Christmas tourney. When they're not shooting well, they have a hard time chasing down their missed shots and they lost seven of eight to close the season.

Church had Central stall for one entire quarter in a game during last season's SEMO Conference tourney, but that didn't seem to be an option to reversing this year's outcomes against Jackson, even if only to plant a seed among the favored Indians that any possession could be their last.

"That crossed our minds," he said. "We thought our offense was in better rhythm when we stayed in that aggressive mode."

Church welcomes the day when he'll have to carry the pressure of going for the season sweep against the rival -- although five meetings might not be possible with both teams leaving the Farmington field next year. He would settle for any combination that produces the district title.

"It'll happen," Church said. "It's going to take hard work from the coaching staff and the young guys coming up."

Jackson will have to deal with expectations for at least one more contest, trying to at least repeat a five-point win against Poplar Bluff from Jan. 15. After that, they would be the underdogs in a possible sectional showdown with Webster Groves, which beat a Goodman-less Jackson by 21 in a December meeting that wasn't even that close.

"You can let external people put pressure on you," Scott said, "but the only thing that matters is the expectations you place on yourself. If you're a competitor, you want to win that last game and go on to the next one. We just want to take the floor and know that we did the best we could, and we'll be satisfied with whatever the outcome is."

Central (52) -- Jajuan Bell 19, Chase Johnson 13, Shane Nolen 16, Zach Boerboom 4. FG 17, FT 8-11, F 16 (3-pointers: Bell 4, Johnson 3, Nolen 3. Fouled out: none)

Jackson (60) -- Marcus Harris 1, Kyle Keith 3, Spencer Goodman 11, Matt Lang 11, Jake Leet 17, Hunter Grantham 17. FG 24, FT 6-14, F 11 (3-pointers: Lang 2, Leet 2, Goodman 1, Keith 1. Fouled out: none)