Early scoring leads Bruins past Jackson Christian
University School of Jackson's Bruins built a 17-point lead late in the second quarter behind five 3-pointers and led by 10 at the halftime break before withstanding Jackson Christian's second half rally to win 72-66 over the Eagles to claim their first win of the young season at the Bruins' Den Saturday night.
Tied at 19-19 after a scrappy fast-paced first quarter, the Bruins opened up a 10-point lead in the second behind Amir Kaveh's three treys and one each from Ryan Davis and Trey Corley.
“We want to get them in bunches like that when we can,” said USJ coach Oliver Simmons about the second quarter spurt.
With USJ up 55-43 as the final period started, the Eagles (4-3) got nine points from Riley Ragan and four each from three other starters in the quarter to cut the deficit to four with 23.7 seconds left before the Bruins held on for the win.
Ragan led all scorers with 20 points, and Logan Riddle and Gunner Lewis had 12 and 10 for the Eagles. Davis paced the Bruins with 16, Kaveh and Brandon Craig added 12 each and Corley chipped in 11.
“We followed our game plan more in the second half than in the first half,” explained Jackson Christian coach J.D. Byrd about the difference in play. “We had a bad second quarter and dug ourselves a hole when we only scored nine points.
“We came out a little anxious in the first half and settled down in the second half and played our game. We executed better. We got better shots and didn't force them in the second half.”
“I am just happy for the boys to get this win against a very good team,” Simmons said. “They are a tough team to beat, and they have lot of weapons.
“We didn't shoot the ball well coming down the stretch tonight. Plus, we had lots of turnovers and mental mistakes. We are nowhere near a polished tool yet, but we are working on it.”
About the Bruins 1-4 record and early season struggles, Simmons added, “We just got six boys on our bench back from football. We are just now getting five days of practice with our whole team. That's not a lot of practice plus we only have two boys who really played varsity ball last year (Davis and Craig).”
USJ girls 74, Jackson Christian 37: In the girls game, USJ opened up a 26-9 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. MTSU signee Anna Jones led the Lady Bruins with 15 points, and Morgan Williams added 11 for USJ (6-1), who led 50-20 at the half. Ashlyn Yarbrough and Kady Beth Cook each had eight for the Lady Eagles.