‘We take it one day at a time:’ Behind Jackson boys’ basketball’s emphatic mid-season stretch

JACKSON — The emotions said it all.

To understand how Saturday’s boys’ basketball heavyweight showdown went between two-loss Jackson and undefeated Farmington, one needed to look no further than the teams’ two benches late in the fourth quarter inside the Jackson High School gymnasium.

On Jackson’s side? Laughing, smiling, high-fiving — an ecstatic celebration.

On Farmington’s? Somber stares, salty expressions — and by the end of Jackson’s eventual 54-48 win, hung heads.

Five days after Jackson (12-2) knocked off Cape Central in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament title game, the Indians took down one of the top teams in the region.

“We've won a lot of close games,” head coach Kory Thoma said. “These situations you can't replicate in practice no matter how hard you try, and I've tried to do it three years in a row now. It's impossible. So, for my kids to be in these moments and in these games, it's good for the coaches and it’s good for the players. We’ve been in a lot of them this year. I’ll take my kids over anybody right now.”

Leading the way, again, was All-State forward Kole Deck, who had eight first-half points before eventually finishing with 10, and promising freshman Jon Ernst, who had a team-high 14 points while tormenting Farmington (10-1) on the boards all game.

“My teammates moving the ball inside and out made the difference,” the 6-foot-7 Ernst said. “That really helps. Just making extra passes and making plays.”

Jackson freshman Jon Ernst attempts a layup shot against Farmington on Saturday, Jan. 4. Ernst finished with a team-high 14 points.Kaiden Karper ~ kkarper@semoball.com

For Ernst, Deck, and the rest of the team, they’ve never had this many string of wins at the high school level. Jackson has now won eight games in a row — the longest winning streak in the program since 2018 — and is undoubtedly one of the hottest teams in the state at the Class 6 level.

So, what’s been the formula?

“We’ve got our leaders leading, our seniors doing great, and our scorers scoring,” Ernst said. “I’m just getting more comfortable every game because I get kind of nervous once in a while, but just every game we’re getting better.”

Another key factor is the noticeable size advantage. Ernst, along with two other regulars in Deck and senior Lee Ivy, all stand 6-foot-4 or taller. It’s one of the big reasons why Jackson continues to dominate on the glass and win games in the paint.

What has also stood out is the supporting cast around the All-State forward Deck keeps getting better.

Jackson outscored Farmington 26-19 in the second half, with only two of those points belonging to Deck. While the Knights did a solid job locking down the senior, players like Ernst, Ivy, and Kolton Thoma stepped up on the floor and made crucial plays down the stretch, proving that the Indians can beat a defense in a variety of ways.

One individual who probably doesn’t get enough credit for Jackson’s success is sophomore guard Jory Thoma, who had the play of the game in the Christmas Tournament championship behind a game-clinching steal and fast break layup with 30 seconds to go. Against Farmington, he didn’t light up the stat sheet, but was a force on the defensive front and drained a clutch 3-pointer with 2:15 remaining in regulation.

“He’s just a kid that makes plays,” Thoma said of his nephew Jory. “You know, I make plays on the board before every game, and he's one kid that makes plays. Blayne Reagan is another kid. I had a bunch of kids make plays tonight eventually, but Jory’s presence on the floor was huge. You see, I’ve had seven different starting lineups this year. The last two nights he started for me, so the more I get him out there, the more chances he has to make those plays.”

Jackson sophomore Jory Thoma drives through a lane against Cape Central on Monday, Dec. 30, at the Show Me Center.Kaiden Karper ~ kkarper@semoball.com

For Jackson boys’ basketball as a whole, the past three weeks have been a joy ride.

After an underwhelming pair of seasons in 2021 and 2022 — the Indians’ 28-26 combined record not befitting a program that had captured seven district titles the decade before — Jackson needed someone to change things around. Someone who understands how one of Southeast Missouri’s better basketball brands is supposed to operate and what it should look like. Sure, Thoma’s job is to win games and hoist trophies — but it’s also to reinstill a winning culture.

“We wanted to bring a culture to the program and to the community,” Thoma said. “So, when the fans showed up today, they're like, ‘dang, these kids played hard,’ and that had every aspect of a culture that they want to be around. It takes a while to build that, and it takes a lot of time to build that between the practices and talking to the kids and doing the right things. So, that's the biggest thing. That's what I wanted to do. Not saying the culture was out of whack before because it wasn’t, but I wanted to bring my emphasis to the culture.”

So far, so good.

Jackson head coach Kory Thoma instructs his team on the sideline against Farmington on Saturday, Jan. 4.Kaiden Karper ~ kkarper@semoball.com

In 2023, the Indians marched to a district title and finished fourth in the Class 6 state tournament under Thoma and a better opinion of the program. Two transformative seasons later, and the Bootheel’s crown-jewel football school seems to have once again regained relevance on the basketball court.

“We take it one day at a time,” Thoma said. “We start with practice this week, and we don't look past that practice. We’ve got to be really good in that practice and in the next practice, until we get to the next opponent. So, we're not looking past anybody or any competition. I'm not looking ahead.”

Based on the past few weeks, it’s become clear that Thoma’s squad is practicing what he’s preaching.

“As a team we’re obviously trying to recreate what we did two years ago and make it back to the Final Four,” Deck said. “There was a lot of doubt going into this year knowing not a lot of people had real varsity minutes, but we love proving people wrong and we’ll see how far we can get.”