Jackson Progress-Argus

Jackson senior forward, Jarrett Watts, boxes out his opponent from Eastside as he attempts to grab a rebound.

The Jackson High School Red Devils lost a hard-fought game Friday night against Eastside High School, 69-54, before falling more handily Saturday against the Mary Persons Bulldogs, 76-55.

Friday night, Eastside ratcheted up the tempo from the onset, pressing high up the court and leaving space behind for Jackson to exploit. The result of Eastside’s tactics was a first quarter filled with layups. Either Jackson beat the press and scored easily, or Eastside stole the ball deep in Jackson’s end and had uncontested shots.

Jackson trailed by only four points after the first quarter, but the deficit grew to 14 quickly after a 10-0 run by Eastside over the first three minutes of the second quarter. Pheanious McKibben and Ladarian Spivey hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions for the Red Devils to stop the run, and Jackson trailed by 9 at halftime.

Jackson came out strong in the third quarter, a rarity throughout much of the season for the team, scoring 7 consecutive points in the fist two minutes of the half. Finally, with 1:23 left in the third quarter, Ladarian Spivey scored his second basket in as many possessions to put Jackson ahead, 39-37.

But Eastside was able to go on a 7-0 run to finish the third quarter, and scored another 7 consecutive points to start the final frame. That 14-point unanswered run proved to be Jackson’s undoing, as the team grew more and more desperate late in the game. Jackson fouled Eastside to the bitter end in hopes that the Eagles would miss key free throws, but in the end, victory was not on the cards.

“For us, it’s all about consistency,” said Head Coach Dary Myricks. “We have to be consistent down the stretch, and hold onto games when we get in the position that we were in tonight. This is the kind of game that we should be able to win.”

Next up for the Red Devils were the bitter rivals from Forsyth, the Mary Persons Bulldogs. The Bulldogs were led by their star forward Brannen Greene, who leads the team in scoring this season. Greene, a junior, has been courted by a variety of top schools to play basketball and recently committed to play for the University of Kansas. Ranked by Scout.com as the No. 22 player in the country in his class, Greene presented a difficult challenge for the Red Devils.

Over the duration of the first quarter, Mary Persons was able to grow a lead at a steady pace. They led 9-4 mid-way through the quarter and 19-7 at its conclusion.

The trend continued in the second quarter, but Jackson’s junior point guard Torian Hollaman was a bright spot for the Red Devils squad. His quick bursts of acceleration and ability to adjust his body in mid-air allowed him to draw fouls and score from the free throw line. His quickness, toughness, and ability to handle the ball meant he was the only one on the team that was able to single-handedly break down the Mary Persons defense and cause them to rotate and reposition defensively.

But Jackson was too porous on defense to prevent easy baskets for Mary Persons. Greene posed a major problem due to his ability to score from anywhere on the floor.

In the end, it wound up a 76-55 win for the Bulldogs.

“They have a very good team and a great player over there,” said Myricks. “You have to give them credit, but we are also getting better. Anyone who has seen us from the beginning of the year to now can see that we’ve gotten a lot better as a team.”

The Red Devils’ next game will be Friday night at Sandy Creek High School. Tip-off will follow the girls varsity game, which is scheduled for approximately 8:30 p.m.