Middleton boys beat Jackson Christian

Middleton guard Jacquces Gibson had a nice showing in his team’s District 15-A opener last week against Trinity Christian Academy. And forward Justin Morman has been consistently strong throughout the semester.

Friday was a chance for sophomore forward Tylandrius Parks to shine.

Parks led all scorers with 23 points, even throwing down a two-hand dunk off a steal in the fourth quarter, as Middleton pulled away for a 75-55 win over host Jackson Christian.

Coach James Burkley and the Tigers (9-3, 2-0 district) would like to see more of that from Parks.

“We finally got him to play aggressive, and we needed him,” Burkley said. “We had some guys in foul trouble — Justin Morman and Montrez Jones. I told him during a timeout that we needed him to step up and be our playmaker.

“So he got it going. Once he got going, everybody else kind of followed suit.”

Morman keyed an entertaining first quarter, scoring 14 points as Middleton built a 27-19 lead (Morman finished with 20). But as the game progressed, Parks and Gibson (13 points) increased their influence.

Parks knocked down an early 3 but scored most of his points near the rim. He got some of them simply off hustle, tipping in missed layups on fast breaks.

“Our offense has been going. [Off] our defense, we try to get fast breaks,” Parks said. “We need to work on our ballhandling. We’ve been having too many turnovers.”

Burkley said Parks has already received some interest from small colleges who like his potential.

Jackson Christian (7-3, 0-1), despite what the score suggests, was competitive for much of the night. Burkley didn’t like Middleton’s defensive ineffectiveness early, and Jackson Christian forward Garrett Hopkins gave the Tigers trouble at the rim.

He scored 19 points and Riley Ragan added 16. Josh Cole and Jeremy Stewart each scored eight points and Logan Riddle and Gunnar Lewis each had two.

“Mental toughness,” Jackson Christian coach J.D. Byrd said when asked what his team can learn from the game. “We cut it to seven in the third quarter, made some mental mistakes, and that led to a 13-point deficit to start the fourth quarter.

“So being mentally tough would be one thing we’ve learned that we’ve got to get better at.”

Montrez Jones scored 17 points and Artavious Reaves added two for Middleton. The Tigers have won district titles outright recently, and Burkley sees district success as a good fundamental goal.

“First of all we have to take care of our district and do what we’re capable of doing in the postseason, and then we can start looking forward,” Burkley said.

Girls

Middleton 57, Jackson Christian 44

A 20-4 first quarter lead gave the visiting Lady Tigers (10-0, 2-0 district) enough cushion to hold on for their 45th consecutive win.

Dakedra Mason scored 20 points, Cherelle Jones 11 and Sequoya Warren 10 for Middleton.

Kady Cook led Jackson Christian (4-6, 0-1) with 13 points. Kelsey Rice had nine and Amelia Grizzell seven.

Craig Thomas, 425-9634