Jackson escapes with 48-45 win over Monroe boys

Published 10:05 pm Tuesday, January 6, 2015

MONROE — One of the most challenging things to do for a high-school basketball team is close out close games.

Jackson, a talented team, but one that lacks much varsity experience, is learning that on the fly.

In the Bothell Holiday Classic, the Timberwolves saw a fourth-quarter lead evaporate against Newport, losing 52-50.

On Tuesday against Monroe, Jackson let a late lead slip away again, but not the win. The Bearcats rallied from a 45-36 deficit with a 9-0 run, but the Timberwolves scores the game’s final three points to escape with a 48-45 victory.

“We’re trying to learn how to close games out and we had a tough one at the (Bothell) holiday tournament, so to be on the positive side after letting them tie the game and then getting a couple of stops and one basket when we really needed it is better than it worked out in the earlier situation,” Jackson head coach Steve Johnson said.

Monroe’s Rhen Shore capped off the Bearcats’ late run with a 3-pointer with 1:37 to play in the game. Jackson failed to score on its next possession, giving Monroe an opportunity to take its first lead since late in the second quarter when senior Alex Spahman was fouled by Jackson’s Colton Faddis. Spahman went to the line to shoot the one-and-one, but missed the front end giving Jackson another chance at the lead.

This time, senior Dolan Tierney took advantage of the opportunity, coming off a screen and connecting on a 15-footer to give the Timberwolves a 47-45 lead with 41 seconds to play. Moments later Tierney added a free throw to give Jackson a three-point lead.

“At that time, we’ll take one shot and one free throw, relative to everything else that was going on,” Johnson said. “It was spooky like the Newport game. We had a lot of shots in and out and a few breakdowns defensively.

“I was glad to see Dolan step up and make that shot. He shot it with confidence.”

Tierney finished the game with 11 points, but none bigger than the final three.

Tierney gave the credit to Faddis, who set the screen that got him open for his late jumper.

“It was all Colton,” Tierney said. “Colton set such a good screen and it was just like it was practice, just follow through and make the shot.”

The game was a back-and-forth affair in the first half, but Jackson separated itself in the third quarter. Counting the final seconds of the second quarter and the opening minutes of the third, Jackson went on a 10-0 run to take a seven-point lead. That lead was extended to 10 in final seconds of the third quarter before Monroe’s Alex Johnson nailed 3-pointer from 30 feet at the buzzer to make the score 39-32 after three.

The shot kept the Bearcats close enough to make a late run, but it wasn’t enough.

“I give them some credit,” Johnson said. “They played really hard. They play hard defensively and they make it difficult, but I’d like to think that the end of the game stuff, the bad shot selection and the missed free throws, made it a lot more interesting than it maybe should have been.”

With the win, the Timberwolves improve to 5-4 overall, but an impressive 4-0 in Wesco 4A play, which has them alone in first place.

“We’re getting wins when it counts,” Tierney said. “It’s paying off. We just have to come to practice tomorrow getting ready for Thursday (against Cascade).”

The Bearcats, on the other hand, are faced with the challenge of regrouping before Thursday’s road game against Lake Stevens.

“We’re proud of effort and we’re proud of being able to hold them to 48 (points),” Monroe head coach Tyson Horner said. “We want our kids to have the mindset that they have the ability to win games like that. We don’t want them to be proud just because they hung with them.”

Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.

At Monroe H.S.

Jackson1211169—48

Monroe10121013—45

Jackson—Frank Rossi 12, Dolan Tierney 11, Ian Willgress 0, Brian Brown 6, Markus Sullivan 4, Connor Marschall 0, Yegor Gorbenko 3, Parker Manalo 0, Sam Saufferer 7, Colton Faddis 5. Monroe–Andrew Chartrand 0, Tyler Koontz 0, Alex Johnson 12, Devin Sepich 7, Rhen Shore 10, Alex Spahman 5, Tristan Witham 4, Colby Kyle 5, Trenton Newhouse 0, John Montero 0, Isaiah Cole 2. 3-point goals–Rossi 2, Johnson 2, Shore 1. Records–Jackson 4-0 league, 5-4 overall. Monroe 2-2, 4-6.