Top Ranked Patriots slam Pioneers

Southern Sports & Travel

It was a post season tournament style atmosphere last night in McComb as the defending Overall Champion and top ranked Jackson Prep Patriots battled fourth ranked Parklane before a large crowd and a raucous Pioneer student section.Jackson Prep senior Josh Williams scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in leading the Patriots to a 53-43 hard fought and at times physical road win to improve to 19-3 overall and 6-0 in district play.While Parklane never led in the contest the Pioneers did solidify their top five ranking in Class AAA and proved to be a team to be reckoned with when tourney time approaches next month.
Prep drew first blood last night as Cade Noble drilled a 3-pointer from the deep corner thirty seconds into the contest and the Patriots would stretch out to a 9-4 advantage when Josh Williams canned a 3-pointer from the wing at the 5:12 mark of the quarter.

Richard Baird’s fast break lay-in with 1:55 remaining in the opening quarter would give Prep their biggest lead at 17-8 but Parklane avoided getting into a hole it couldn’t climb out of.

John Gray would provide the Pioneers with a much needed basket as the sophomore converted on a fast break opportunity, plus one, to trim the deficit to 17-11 with 39 seconds left in the quarter but the Pioneers would put Prep on the free throw line with 1 second left and Patriot Michael Lewis made the most of it as the senior sank two free throws to close the opening quarter with the defending champions holding a 19-11 lead.

Parklane’s inside game proved to be a problem for Prep and kept the Pioneers in the contest over the eight minute second quarter.

(Above) Ryan Buchanan (#24) of Prep drives on Parklane's Brady Lea (#33)

Brady Lea’s offensive rebound and put back would pull Parklane to within six points at 19-13 to start the second stanza but Prep quickly responded as Gene Wood canned a 3-pointer from the top of the key and followed that with a 17 foot jumper  to extend the lead to 24-13 just over two minutes into the quarter.

Zach Stutzman’s bucket in the paint at the 5:13 mark halted what looked to be the beginning of a Prep run and kept Parklane’s deficit to single digits at 24-15 but a Josh Williams steal and slam dunk quickly pushed to the lead back to eleven points at 26-15.

Fourth ranked Parklane produced a 6-2 run over the next two minutes and got the home crowd on their feet as the Pioneers pulled to 28-21 but Prep would capitalize on a late quarter turnover and Kyle Thigpen would drain two free throws to send both teams into intermission with Jackson Prep maintaining a 30-21 lead.

Jackson Prep would take their biggest lead of the night to start the second half as Josh Williams converted on an offensive rebound and Michael Lewis would hit on one of two free throw attempts to push the lead to 33-21 with 6:31 remaining in the third quarter.

(Above) Josh Williams of Jackson Prep (#23) gets a piece of a shot by Parklane's Tyler Stutzman

Parklane drew to within seven points at 36-29 on a Brady Lea transition basket at the 1:16 mark but Prep would once again close a quarter capitalizing on Pioneer turnovers.

Josh Williams hit two free throws at the 1:04 mark and Richard Baird did the same following a Pioneer turnover with 39 seconds left in the quarter to extend the margin back to eleven points at 40-29 to close out the third quarter.

Consecutive Parklane baskets from Zach Stutzman and Brady Lea opened the fourth quarter and quickly trimmed the deficit to seven points at 40-33 but the Pioneers would get no closer the rest of the way.

Spencer Remley’s 18 foot jumper with 1:54 left once again pulled the Pioneers to within eight points at 47-39 but Prep would close out the contest hitting on 6 of 7 from the charity stripe to preserve a hard fought 53-43 win.

“It was a great atmosphere to play in tonight,” said Jackson Prep senior Josh Williams. “It’s a great feeling when the opposing crowd is getting on you and you get a steal and a slam to quite the crowd, that can be a momentum changer and I think it got us going.”

Jackson Prep improves to 19-3 and the Patriots know they have a target on their backs each time they hit the court.

“We’re not the same team we were last season, but we feel the pressure when it comes to repeating,” said Williams. “Some of our guys didn’t join the team until the end of football season and it took us a few weeks to gel but we have worked extremely hard.”

Williams led Prep with 19 points and 10 rebounds, Gene Wood added 9, Cade Noble 7, Ryan Buchanan 6, Michael Lewis and Richard Baird had 4 apiece and Kyle Thigpen and James Young each had 2.

Parklane (13-5 & 5-3) was led by Brady Lea with 12 points, Zach Stutzman and Tyler Stutzman each had 10 points, Phillip Strawn 4, John Gray 3 and Spencer Remley and Justin Brent 2 each.

Parklane dominated the contest in the paint scoring 34 of their 43 points inside but couldn’t match the depth of Jackson Prep who produced 17 bench points to Parklane’s 7.

Next up for Jackson Prep will be a road trip to Hattiesburg on Saturday to take on Presbyterian while Parklane will travel to Silliman that same day.

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Post Game with Jackson Prep Head Coach David Horner

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Photo at top of page courtesy of Chuck Barnes of Barnes Enterprises