Good things come in 3s as Deck, Jackson blitz past Oakville in C6D1 quarterfinal

Beginning postseason play in the St. Louis metro area, Jackson Indians boys basketball got off to a hot start as it used a big third-quarter rally to storm past a tough sixth-seeded Oakville squad, winning 58-39 to advance to the Class 6 District 1 semifinals.

Finishing the season at 15-11, it’s not too common to match up with a sixth-seeded team entering five games above the .500 mark, and Jackson faced plenty of adversity early against the Tigers.

Dropping into a deficit just before halftime, the Indians needed a response. Entering the break with a 4-point lead and storming out to a 12-point lead at the end of the third, the response dictated the message in the Indians’ postseason-opening victory Wednesday.

“Oakville, they're a really good, solid team,” Indians coach Kory Thoma said. “If you just keep dragging at them, they can potentially have a bad quarter and that's what they did in the third quarter.”

Leading the Indians as he has much of this season was superstar senior Kole Deck, touted as one of the best players in all of Southeast Missouri and living up to the moniker with another 18-point performance on the road to command the Indians in scoring.

Sophomore Jory Thoma contributed another 15 points behind him, but the third-year Jackson coach Thoma focused heavily on the impact of Deck’s lulls and peaks that promoted the breakout of Jackson’s offense down the stretch.

“Kole finally got going in the third quarter a little bit, hit a shot,” Thoma said. “He didn't hit a 3 in the first half and he had really good looks, just wouldn’t get in.

“He hit that early 3 and the floodgates kind of opened up in the third quarter.”

The victory sets up an all-important semifinal rematch with No. 2 Seckman that’s sure to leave many Jackson fans chomping at the bit to see a big response following a game just a week ago between the two.

Now third-seeded Jackson seemed to maintain one of the top reputations in the district before Seckman entered the Indians’ home stadium and knocked off the hosts with a 66-57 victory that was once much greater before a second-half push from Jackson.

In that game, it’s worth noting that the visiting Jaguars shot a ridiculous 68 percent from the field, which is certainly unlikely to be replicated – but you never truly know, do you?

Also on Wednesday night, district host Seckman took down seventh-seeded Mehlville with a late push that upended a deficit that the Jags spent most of the game in, going on to win 59-53 against the second-lowest seeded squad in District 1.

That’s to say, the two seem to be coming in on different trajectories going into the semifinal that’s going to be just as tense as the ensuing district final for either side.

Breaking out of a slump that saw Jackson lose two consecutive games for the first time this season and a 3-of-4 span of losses attached to that streak, Thoma’s squad is now on two consecutive wins headed into that rematch, and they’re hoping to flip the script on Friday night.

“If we win three key stats – If we win the turnover margin, we win the rebound margin, we win the free throw margin – I tell my kids, we win those three, there’s no way to lose,” Thoma said. “Well, we ended up losing. When a team shoots 68 percent, you're not winning no matter what stat line that you want to look at.

“I think we're going to see a different group of kids,” Thoma said.