Jackson Progress-Argus

Jackson outscored Spalding by 14 points from the free throw line, which was one of the keys to the team’s victory.

The Jackson High School Red Devils ended a lengthy losing streak Friday night, when they defeated the Spalding High School Jaguars on the road in an overtime thriller, 78-76.

LaDarian Spivey led Jackson in scoring with 24 points, while junior Torian Hollaman added 16 and sophomore Brandon Hardy tallied 14.

“Our kids played hard, and I’m proud of them,” said Head Coach Dary Myricks. “Height is one of those things that God gives you that we don’t quite have. It’s hard to keep plugging and playing along when you’ve had a season like we’ve had, and those kids played a hell of a game tonight.”

Although the game was a close affair throughout, Jackson trailed for much of the contest, including all of the second and third quarters. Jackson took its first lead since the first quarter with 4:01 left in the final frame after a Hardy free throw made the game 59-58. Jackson would give up the lead just moments later, but from that point until the end of the game, the lead changed hands five times.

Myricks said it was a game like this that he’s been challenging his team to win, after mental collapses have seen Jackson lose some games they shouldn’t have this season.

“It’s about time,” said Myricks. “They’ve been working so hard. I’ve been trying to challenge them mentally, [saying] ‘Can you stay in the game for four quarters?’ We played Sandy Creek great for three quarters, but we didn’t score a point in the third quarter there last week. Tonight, man, they stayed in the game for four quarters and they gave themselves a chance to win.”

Both teams entered the fourth quarter in the bonus, meaning that every time a player was fouled, even if the player was not in the act of shooting, he went to the free throw line to shoot at least one foul shot. The result was a drawn out game with 74 points coming via free throws from the two teams.

Jackson had an opportunity to win the game in regulation. After the teams traded free throws and Hollaman tied the game at 67 with 17 seconds remaining in regulation, the Red Devils’ defense forced an error by the Spalding inbound passer, and Jackson stole the ball. Myricks called a timeout immediately, and it left Jackson with an opportunity to win the game. The ball ended up in the hands of junior Jeremiah Johnson, who missed a runner in the lane. Hardy’s putback attempt moments prior to the buzzer was off the mark, and the game moved to a four-minute overtime period.

The game almost swung in Spalding’s favor in overtime when Hardy was called for a foul against a three-point shooter with just less than a minute remaining and Jackson leading 74-70. The Spalding guard Monquez Sullivan, however, missed all three of his free throw attempts. Still, a Spalding player was able to grab the rebound and put the ball in for a score with 23 seconds left, cutting Jackson’s lead in half to 2 points.

Spalding quickly fouled and sent KeliUndre Douglas back to the line. He made one of his two free throws, and Spalding got the ball down the court for a quick 2-pointer to cut the lead to a single point.

In the end, it was Hardy who stepped up and sank two crucial free throws, adding to his six overtime points, to give Jackson a 3-point lead with 10.8 seconds to play.

“Brandon Hardy was huge tonight,” said Myricks of his starting center, who finished with a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds. “I think he got a couple steals on the defensive end, there’s no telling how many rebounds, and I think he hit all his free throws down the stretch. And he’s just a sophomore. Let me tell you something right now, this is a young basketball team.”

Instead of trying to tie the game with a 3-pointer, Spalding took the ball inside and scored another basket in the paint. Jackson happily allowed them to do so, as by the time the Red Devils inbounded the ball, there was not enough time remaining for Spalding to get another decent shot attempt.

“We’ve had two years of struggle, but this is still a young basketball team, and they can come together,” said Myricks. “They pass the ball together, they look for each other, they share the ball. The stat book is spread out in terms of everyone scoring, so with all our struggles, I think we’re becoming a team.”