Jackson scorches Charleston to claim third place in conference tourney

When does a third-place take on some glitter for a No. 1 seed?

When a team with pride answers to its own challenge just 24 hours after a sour performance.

On Friday, the trophy had a nice luster for the Jackson boys basketball team, which also administered a dose of validation to its seeding with a 85-59 trouncing of perennial Southeast Missouri basketball power Charleston in the SEMO Conference Tournament.

The victory came on the heels of a 59-49 loss to fifth-seeded New Madrid County Central in Thursday's semifinals, and was quite welcome for the Indians, who received the top seed in two tournaments this year before even lacing up their sneakers for their season opener.

The Indians (2-1), who also received the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament, didn't exactly overpower No. 8 Kennett it is season opener Tuesday, but they overwhelmed No. 6 Charleston with a 20-0 burst in the first quarter Friday in seizing control.

Jackson took full advantage of its size differential, with 6-foot-7 Yale-bound senior Blake Reynolds making his presence felt with a career-high 39 points. With Reynolds leading the charge, Jackson bolted out to a 24-2 lead and never saw it dip below 14 points the remainder of the game.

"It was definitely important to come out and make a statement against Charleston, a team that is really well known around this area, and has been for a really long time," Reynolds said.

The thorough dismantling of the Bluejays was welcome relief for the Indians, who won their first SEMO Conference title last year, collected the first-place trophy in the Christmas tournament and advanced to the Class 5 quarterfinals, where their season was ended by eventual state-champion CBC. Indians players were conscious of early expectations this season despite losing three starters to graduation.

"Being Jackson, we've always had a target on our back, being as successful as we have the past few years," Jackson senior guard Braden Wendel said. "Only returning two starters, people were questioning why did we get the one seed, and I think this game can show that we're still definitely one of the best teams in this area."

Reynolds scored his first points inside off a pass from junior guard Garrett Walker in the first minute of the game for a 4-2 advantage, and the Indians never wavered from the strategy.

After Charleston's Tyler Craig countered with a basket seconds later, Reynolds commenced the monstrous run with a three-point play when he scored off a fastbreak pass from Wendel and was fouled on the layin. Wendel and Reynolds scored the next 10 points, including feeding each other for slam dunks on back-to-back possessions midway through the quarter that extended the margin to 17-2.

"We really played well," Reynolds said about the team. "We established ourselves early, and the guards just did a great job of handling their pressure and didn't let it get to them."

Reynolds had 14 points in the first quarter, which surpassed his 12-point total from a night earlier against NMCC.

"I felt like yesterday we came out and let New Madrid bring it to us," Reynolds said. "And tonight we kind of came out and struck first and kind of took it to Charleston and got out early, and that really helped us."

That was part of the postgame talk by Jackson coach Darrin Scott after his team's first loss.

"Last night I challenged them," Scott said. "I said this was going to be an important game for their character and how they play. They didn't have to shoot the ball well or do that stuff, but we needed to play well, and I thought they responded really well and playing hard."

At one point during the run, Jackson scored field goals on eight consecutive trips down the floor -- all eight were either layins or dunks.

"We got size, they didn't have size," said Wendel, who finished with 10 points. "We knew we would have an advantage in there."

The Indians hit on 12 of 15 shots in the period, which ended with Jackson leading 26-9.

"We almost hit on as many shots in the first quarter as we did the whole game last night," Reynolds said.

The Indians were aggressive but patient a day after going 8 of 26 from the field in the first half against NMCC. Reynolds was 4 of 14 from the field against NMCC.

"We weren't looking to shoot a 3 first," Scott said about Friday's performance. "We were looking to attack and get it inside and that had direct correlation for the rest of the game to how we shot the ball."

Jackson didn't relent in the second quarter, with Walker connecting on a 3-point basket and Reynolds driving the lane as the Indians scored the first five points for a 31-9 advantage. The lead grew to 26 points by halftime at 49-23. The Indians shot 66.8 percent (22 of 32) from the floor in the half, while Charleston shot 25.5 (7 of 27) from the field.

"To be honest, I think we were feared, they were so big," Charleston coach Danny Farmer said. "And then we came back at halftime and didn't want to go down in that matter, at least want to put up a fight, but we weren't ready to play."

Charleston (3-4) closed the gap to 14 points in the third quarter but never seriously threatened the Indians.

Reynolds had 22 points in the first half alone, and helped keep the cushion comfortable in the second half.

"Tonight our guards had great vision and kept their eyes up and saw him," Scott said of Reynolds. "And I thought he was more aggressive . Sometimes, New Madrid doubled him quite a bit, and he got to where I thought he was catching and looking to pass, and tonight he was looking to score. He was more aggressive tonight."

Reynolds added eight points in the third quarter and nine in the fourth.

'Hopefully when we play everybody, they're going to have to guard him with two guys, and then that's going to make our other guys better," Scott said.

Meanwhile, the Indians held Charleston senior Delfincko Bogan to 16 points. Bogan had scored 35 points in a first-round win against Sikeston.

"You never know if you're going to be able to contain Del," Scott said. "I thought our guys did a good job of pulling to the ball and keeping him out of the paint, and making him work for everything. And I thought we did a pretty good job of getting out on their shooters, because those other kids can shoot it so well. That's what makes them dangerous. You worry about Del, but if you help too much, they kick it out and those guys are going to hit shots."

Senior forward Connor Shepard added 13 points for Jackson.

"I'm most pleased how our guards, our young guards who haven't had much experience at this level handled the pressure," Reynolds said. "We did a great job and I thought we really limited the amount of turnovers, unlike last night."

Ja-mael Nelson added 12 points for Charleston.

Charleston 9 14 22 14 -- 59

Jackson 26 23 12 24 -- 85

CHARLESTON (59) -- Dontarius Sharp 7, Delfincko Bogan 16, Demarcus Sharp 3, Ja-mael Nelson 12, Mardareyon Clark 8, Jeremy Tucker 2, Tenerrious Ewing 6, Tyler Craig 5. FG 22, FT 9-14, F 10 (3-pointers: Do. Sharp, Bogan 2, De. Sharp, Nelson 2, . Fouled out: none.)

JACKSON (85) -- Terry Venable 4, Garrett Walker 3, Braden Wendel 10, Jacob Smith 12, Stephen Irons 2, Blake Reynolds 39, Connor Shepard 13, Camerson Hester 2. FG 40, FT 4-8, F 16 (3-pointers: Walker. Fouled out: none.)