PIQUA – Jackson Center held off a furious Fairlawn comeback and captured a 42-40 victory in the boys Division 4 Sectional finals Saturday night.
The Tigers, 21-4, advance to the district championship Wednesday night at 8 p.m. at the UD Arena against Cincinnati Christian.
“It’s Piqua (Sectional) and we are playing a good team for the third time and it’s kind of what you expect. My hat goes off to Fairlawn – they put up a valiant effort. They played a great second half at both ends of the floor. They just wouldn’t go away and they hit big shots,” said JC coach Scott Elchert.
Trailing by two with seconds left, Fairlawn had a chance to win or tie, but Jackson recorded a big defensive stop as the Jets last opportunity fell short.
“One play that probably gets lost in the whole mix was the fact that Bryce’s (Sosby) check-out was stellar to make sure they didn’t get another opportunity to put it back in. It was probably one of those unsung plays that people didn’t realize because they were watching the ball, but his check-out was awesome,” said Elchert.
Early in the night, it looked like the Tigers might run away with it. Fairlawn’s Kody Curtner canned a long-range jumper to open the game and JC responded with an 8-0 run capped off when slick-shooting senior Drew Sosby netted a three-pointer. Luke Hickman hit a baseline jumper for the Jets to make it 8-4 but Tiger big man Brady Wildermuth scored six unanswered points as the lead ballooned to 14-4.
“Jackson did a good job defensively on us tonight. We came out and struggled to execute in the first half and we kind of dug ourselves a hole. And it was a battle the rest of the way to climb out of the hole. I loved the way our kids played. They had relentless efforts and continued to get after it, even when it wasn’t going our way,” said Fairlawn coach Justin Tidwell.
Fairlawn had momentum on its side after a three-pointer by Kurtner made it 14-9. However, Jackson Center went on a 5-0 spurt to make it 19-9 heading into the lockerrooms.
Fairlawn standout Nathan Lessing scored his first points of the night in the third quarter but it appeared JC might be pulling away. Hoops by Drew Sosby and Wildermuth had the Tigers doubling up the Jets at 24-12.
Biut with their backs against the wall, Fairlawn showed plenty of grit and responded in a big way. The Jets began to take flight as they were lifted by an 11-2 run. Curtner ignited the surge with a three-pointer and Lessing, who tallied a dozen points in the third quarter, capped it off with a bucket that sliced the Tiger cushion all the way down to 26-23.
In back-and-forth fashion the crowds exchanged energetic cheers. An offensive rebound and put-back by Wildermuth had the Tigers up 33-28 but Fairlawn came right back with a hoop by Lessing to make it 33-30.
JC got some breathing room (37-30) after Bryce Sosby scored a fast break basket, but Fairlawn showed plenty of guts with a 10-4 run to slice the lead to 41-40. Lessing drained a three-pointer at the top of the key to trim the deficit to three and Keshon Johnson calmly sank a pair of free-throws to slice the lead to a single digit with under a minute remaining. Wildermuth hit a free-throw for JC with eight seconds remaining in what turned out to be the final point of the night.
“We talked this week about creating our own luck in a game like this. In the first half we didn’t do a good job of that and in the second half we started to create our own luck a little bit. You have to give credit where credit is due and they did a good job. We would go on a little run and they would hit a shot. They did a good job as well,” said Tidwell.
Wildermuth led Jackson with 24 points and Drew Sosby tossed in 13. Lessing produced a huge second half to finish with 19 for the Jets.
Jackson Center (42) — Booser 2, D Sosby 13, Zorn 1, B Sosby 2, Wildermuth 24.
Fairlawn (40) — Lessing 19, Brautigam 2, Curtner 8, Johnson 5, Hammond 2, Hickman 4.
Score by quarters:
Jackson Center`12`19`31`42
Fairlawn`4`9`26`40
Three-pointers: Jackson Center 3 (D. Sosby 2, Wildermuth); Fairlawn 5 (Lessing 2, Curtner 2, Johnson).
Records: JC 21-4, Fairlawn 16-8.
JC’s next game: Wednesday, district finals at UD Arena, 8 p.m. vs. Cincinnati Christian (19-6).
