Deck’s 23 fuels Jackson to 60-45 bounce-back win over Notre Dame

A stinging home loss to Cape Central last Friday prompted Jackson boys basketball to do a little bit of soul searching ahead of Tuesday night.

That clearly put the Indians on the same page in many phases considering how they handled rival Notre Dame.

Kole Deck scored a game-high 23 points, Braden Thompson added 11 and Jackson routed the Bulldogs 60-45 on Cancer Awareness Night at Jackson High School.

“Friday was a reality check,” Deck said. “We came out flat and when you come out flat against good teams, they'll put you away quick. So, we knew coming into tonight that we had to come in on our toes and we played pretty well.”

On this same night, Deck's younger sister, Kate, scored a game-high 28 points in Jackson girls basketball's wild 65-59 overtime win over MICDS in the Lindbergh Invitational Tournament semifinals.

The boys result was a little different.

The Indians (16-3) never trailed the Bulldogs (8-7) as they stretched a 37-18 halftime lead to 22 points early in the fourth quarter.

Jackson has now won seven straight against Notre Dame — one month after defeating the Bulldogs 52-45 in the SEMO Conference Tournament third-place game.

“We did our game plan to a T,” Deck said. “We moved the ball well and when you play an emotional team like that, it's easy to get in their head. So, we just did a good job overall.”

On Tuesday, Deck and the Indians were patient, and effectively worked the ball around Notre Dame’s defense all four quarters.

After scoring “just” nine points against Cape Central, Deck looked as good as new and was Jackson’s sparkplug behind a game-high in points on 6-of-9 shooting from the foul line and a trio of 3-pointers. Along with Thompson, freshman Jon Ernst and senior Kolton Thoma complimented Deck’s big night with seven and six points, respectively.

“The main goal for me was to lockdown on defense,” Kolton Thoma said. “Especially after losing against Cape, I was motivated. Next game mentality and ready to bounce back.

“Our ball movement made a big difference. Just breaking the press, getting to the middle and limiting turnovers. I think we did that really well. Because last time we played, I feel like we had some silly turnovers that shouldn't have happened. So, I think we did a lot better on the turnovers this game.”

Kolton Johnson scored a team-high 13 points and Brody Harden added 12 to lead Notre Dame, which was challenged all game long by Jackson’s smothering defense and overall physicality.

The Indians sprinted out to a 12-2 lead behind four straight 3-pointers between Deck, Jory Thoma, and Kolton Thoma to open the game. After leading 16-7 at the end of the first, Jackson continued to take firm control with an 8-0 run, capped by a Deck fast-break slam dunk to make it 31-14 with 1:15 to go in the half.

Deck had 16 points and four rebounds at halftime, as the Indians stretched their lead to 19.

Jackson didn't cool off in the second half after Ernst’s second-chance reverse layup put the Indians ahead 55-38 with 2:31 remaining. Moments later, junior Ty Forest buried a corner triple to push the lead to 60-40 and put an exclamation point on Jackson’s fine performance.

The Indians return to the court at 7 p.m. Friday when they travel to St. Louis for a matchup against Ladue Horton Watkins (7-3). Notre Dame will look to bounce back at the Nixa Invitational Tournament this Thursday through Saturday.

“Ladue is a tough team,” Kolton Thoma said. “We’ve just got to play hard. Effort is a big thing. I think we can compete with anybody in the state.”