MILL CREEK — The first time the Jackson boys basketball team played Monroe this season, the Timberwolves needed a basket in the final seconds by senior Dolan Tierney to lock up the win.
There was no such drama on Friday.
Monroe scored the game’s first points and Jackson responded with a 14-0 run and never looked back en route to a 64-49 win over the Bearcats.
“I thought we were pretty solid defensively,” Jackson head coach Steve Johnson said. “They’re a good, balanced team. They’ve got some good inside guys. I thought the difference was defense. We challenged shots better.”
After allowing the game’s opening basket, Jackson held the Bearcats scoreless for more than five minutes and led 16-9 after the first quarter. The Timberwolves were even better defensively in the second quarter, holding Monroe to seven points and taking a 25-16 lead into the locker room.
While Jackson’s defense was clicking in the first half, its offense struggled and the Bearcats remained within striking distance.
That changed in the third quarter.
The Timberwolves opened the second half with a 17-5 run to extend their lead to 42-21.
“I thought we shot the ball a little bit better than the first time that we played them,” Johnson said. “We got some looks in transition much better than the first time we played them. Those two things are linked. If you force tough shots and you rebound well, then you can get out and run and I think we’re more effective when we can get some points in the open floor.”
Senior forward Yegor Gorbenko led Jackson’s run, scoring seven of the Timberwolves’ 17 points. He also scored 12 of Jackson’s 25 points in the first half.
“Offensively, I just have a lot of confidence,” Gorbenko said. “(At) the end of the season, I just feel like I can score as good as anybody in the league.”
Gorbenko finished with a game-high 21 points.
“He’s always had a lot of offensive skills and I think (he has) the confidence to kind of put it all together,” Johnson said. “He’s still working to be consistent defensively and with rebounding, but he’s getting better there. Offensively, ever since late December he’s gotten a lot more confident and I think he’s been able to show the ability he has offensively.”
The Timberwolves nearly matched their first-half total of 25 points with 22 in the third quarter.
“We had transition baskets in the third quarter,” Johnson said. “I thought we pushed the ball and we turned good defense into offense a little bit better than we had prior, certainly better than the first half.”
Jackson held a comfortable 47-26 lead after three quarters and extended its advantage to 55-30 with 5:25 remaining, but the Bearcats had one more run in them. Monroe scored 10 unanswered points to cut Jackson’s lead to 55-40. Lapses like the one the Timberwolves had in the fourth quarter have been a problem at times this season.
“We’re still working on it,” Johnson said. “Obviously, I haven’t solved that as of yet, but the good news is we played at a pretty high level to give us a little bit of a cushion.”
The Bearcats closed the difference to 12 points with 2:20 to play on a 3-pointer by senior Rhen Shore, but that’s as close as they would get.
Jackson suffered its first loss to a league opponent in more than 50 games — a streak dating back to 2012 — with its loss to Snohomish last week, but the Timberwolves have rebounded with back-to-back wins and still hold a one-game lead over the Panthers with three league games to play.
“It’s nice that we brushed that off and kind of went back to work,” Johnson said. “I think we’ve got a tough week next week with Cascade and Kamiak and we’ve got to keep working and keep improving our weaknesses.”
Jackson 64, Monroe 49
At Jackson H.S.
Monroe 9 7 10 23 —49
Jackson 16 9 22 17 —64
Monroe—Andrew Chartrand 0, Tyler Koontz 0, Alex Johnson 6, Devin Sepich 5, Rhen Shore 12, Alex Spahman 14, Tristan Witham 0, Colby Kyle 0, Trenton Newhouse 8, John Montero 2, Braymer Shuey 0, Isiah Cole 2. Jackson—Frank Rossi 9, Dolan Tierney 4, Ian Willgress 0, Brian Brown 6, Markus Sullivan 0, Yegor Gorbenko 21, Connor Marschall 4, Ethan Hammond 0, Parker Manalo 1, Sam Saufferer 10, Colton Faddis 9. 3-point goals—Shore 2, Johnson 2, Gorbenko 2, Saufferer 1, Rossi 1. Records—Monroe 7-4 league, 9-8 overall. Jackson 10-1, 12-5.
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