It’s playoff basketball time, and that means the games are all win or go home from here on out. In Class 6 District 1, the Jackson Indians will enter tournament play on Wednesday as the number two seed, and will look to bounce the Oakville Tigers in the first round of the District Playoffs.
The Indians have had a nice season at 17-9, but went through an arduous 10-game stretch where they couldn’t string back-to-back wins together. From January 10th to February 9th they spent a month trading wins and losses back and forth. They finally got the monkey off their back with consecutive wins against Seckman and Sikeston, but then Webster Groves spoiled the party with a nail-biting 52-51 victory to close out the regular season.
The Indians are going to have to shake that one off before kick-starting their playoff run, but they have the advantage of starting off against an inferior opponent.
The Oakville Tigers went just 8-18 this season, and when these two teams matched up earlier this month, Jackson came into their house and took care of business with a 63-47 victory. Oakville did win their final two games of the regular season, taking down Seckman and Pattonville, but they will have to really step up their game to hang with the Indians.
The Indians are going to want to contain Colby Noblitt if they’re going to keep the Tiger offense out of sorts. He leads the team with a 15.3 PPG average and can be deadly from the outside with 93 makes from downtown this season. Tommy Hennessy is their big two-way player, averaging 11 points a game and totaling 115 rebounds, so he will need to be monitored as well.
As for the Indians, they’re likely going to lean on their big two in Blayne Harris and Clayton Ernst. Harris leads the team in scoring and can hit shots from anywhere on the floor, while Ernst is the big man inside. He’s treacherous around the rim, leading the team in rebounds, and is second in scoring as well. The Tribe will also look to Kaedmon Winborne and Steven Schneider as dangerous outside shooters.
If Jackson has their long range game running efficiently, this one should be in the bag. But you can’t ever take an opponent lightly, especially in the postseason. Expect these boys to be fired up and ready to give 110%.
The District Tournament is being held in Kirkwood with First Tipoff for the Indians on Wednesday at 5:30 pm.
Good luck Indians!
