Jackson keeps state hopes alive
Published 11:24 pm Wednesday, February 24, 2010
MILL CREEK — How would Jackson respond?
That was the most intriguing question going into the Jackson High School boys basketball team’s loser-out game against Mountlake Terrace on Wednesday. Coming off a devastating loss in its previous game, a winner-to-state Class 4A District 1 tournament semifinal this past weekend, Jackson had to forget about that and move on or risk ending its season.
The Timberwolves recovered nicely.
After blowing a 22-point lead against Lake Stevens and losing on Saturday, Jackson kept alive its dreams of a state-tournament trip by beating Mountlake Terrace 66-53. As usual, guard play was crucial for Western Conference South Division champion Jackson (19-4). Backcourt standouts Brett Kingma (28 points) and Ryan Todd (19 points) scored all but 19 of Jackson’s points.
“I was proud with how we bounced back,” Jackson coach Steve Johnson said, “but obviously we’ve got one more (victory) to go to reach our ultimate goal.”
Jackson plays Wesco North No. 3 seed Cascade (15-8) in a third-place winner-to-state, loser-out game at 6 p.m. Friday at Marysville-Pilchuck High. Sparked by the return of recently injured guard Chris McGrath, Cascade beat South No. 3 Shorewood (9-14) 61-49 on Wednesday.
Against Mountlake Terrace, Kingma scored 21 points, including three 3-pointers, in the second half for Jackson, ranked No. 10 in 4A by the Tacoma News Tribune. He was 4-for-4 on free throws in the fourth quarter, when the Timberwolves outscored Mountlake Terrace 16-10.
Todd (10 rebounds, four assists) was 5-for-5 at the foul line in the fourth and had a consistent performance that thrilled coach Johnson.
“He was huge,” said Johnson, “and to me that was him like his old self tonight. That’s the Ryan Todd that I know.”
Todd, a Seattle Pacific University recruit, suffered a concussion against Shorewood on Jan. 22 and missed three games. Since returning to the lineup he had ups and downs, but Wednesday’s outing encouraged him.
“It was tough that (the concussion) had to happen at this time of the season,” Todd said, “but I’m feeling good now and hopefully we, as a team, can keep it going on Friday.”
Zach Karels (19 points) and Jacob Champoux (15 points) were the top scorers for Mountlake Terrace (12-11), which ended its season. The Hawks pulled off a surprising upset win over Jackson on Feb. 9, spoiling Jackson’s senior night. But Terrace was not able to knock off Jackson again.
“I can’t walk out of here right now saying, ‘We lost the basketball game.’ (Jackson) beat us. They made some big shots,” Mountlake Terrace coach Nalin Sood said.
Behind six points by halftime (29-23), Terrace tied it at 40-40 midway through the third quarter after Champoux made a 3 and Will Powell sunk a free throw. But Jackson scored eight straight points — a reverse layin by Todd, a 3-pointer from the right wing by Kingma on Todd’s assist, and a 3 by Marshall Massengale from the middle.
After that, Terrace never got closer than four points.
“They’ve got a nice back court,” Sood said. “Basically, I don’t think you can even play perfect defense and stop them.”
Besides the guards, Jackson got a solid contribution from forward Mike Wishko (five points, seven rebounds, four assists).
The ride is over for Terrace. It was a memorable journey for Sood, whose team was not expected to accomplish much since it returned no starters and only one player (Champoux) who had previous varsity experience.
“There’s a lot of teams still in the postseason and going to state. I’d rather coach this team,” Sood said, “because when you coach it’s all about overachieving, and no one can tell me that this basketball team didn’t overachieve.”
At Jackson H.S.
M. Terrace12112010—53
Jackson16132116—66
Mountlake Terrace — Powell 4, Johnson 3, Champoux 15, Karels 19, Swanstrom 2, Haldane, Snow 10, Eftekhari, Erickson. Jackson — Kingma 28, Todd 19, Massengale 5, O’Keefe 6, Wishko 5, Gay 3, Dineen, Gilchrist, Rucker. 3-point goals — Powell 1, Johnson 1, Champoux 3, Karels 2, Kingma 4, Massengale 1, Wishko 1, Gay 1. Records — Mountlake Terrace 12-11 overall. Jackson 19-4.
