PORT TOWNSEND — The Jackson boys basketball team rode Dan Kingma in the first two quarters, got a lift from Brian Zehr after halftime and received the usual, high-level play throughout from Jason Todd in a 64-51 win over Wenatchee at the Crush in the Slush tournament on Saturday.
Kingma was nearly unstoppable in the first half, when he put up 20 of his 23 points. Zehr scored all nine of his points in the second half and Todd posted a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
“We had pretty good balance with different guys stepping up at different times,” said Jackson head coach Steve Johnson. “Dan was really hot and kept us on a roll early…Zehr did a nice job in the second half…Todd is just consistant, you can almost chalk him down for 10 rebounds and 20 points, you kinda get spoiled.”
Dillon Sugg led Wenatchee with 24 points, including 10 in the first quarter to keep the Panthers tied. But the Timberwolves limited the junior wing to just two points in the decisive second quarter. Kingma nailed three 3-pointers in the period to help Jackson outscore Wenatchee 22-8 in the quarter.
“They changed their defense (in the second),” said Johnson. “Dan capitalized on some open looks, we got the ball to the hot guy and rode his momentum.”
The T-wolves’ second quarter outburst was enough to keep Wenatchee at bay. The lead ballooned to 20 points in the fourth quarter before the Panthers scored some late baskets to trim Jackson’s margin of victory down to 13.
The victory kept the Timberwolves undefeated on the season and capped off a successful trip. Johnson was particularly pleased with how his team, composed primarily of guards and wings, dealt with an opposing Wenatchee squad that tried impose themselves physically.
“I thought Wenatchee was a big physical team that posted hard, screened hard and boarded hard.” said Johnson. “It’s good to play against (a team like that) and I thought we responded well.”
At Port Townsend H.S.
Wenatchee1481514—51
Jackson14221414—64
Wenatchee—Kuntz 7, Hopkins 4, Grater 2, Sugg 24, Faulkner 4, Chandler 6, Jaegar 0, Allison 2, Garcia 0, Blankenship 2. Jackson—Kyle Graff 4, Dan Kingma 23, Jason Todd 19, Brian Zehr 9, Marcus Blake 2, Derrick Bates 0, Connor Willgress 3, Blake Ozuna 0, Frank Rossi 0, Holden Roberts 0, Riley Waite 4, Nick Hovorka 0. 3-point goals—Kuntz, Sugg 4, Kingma 5, Todd 2. Records—Jackson 9-0 overall. Wenatchee 5-4.
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