Jackson Prep holds on to advance in state tournament
The Jackson Prep boys basketball team opened the MAIS overall state tournament with a 64-53 win over Heritage Academy on Tuesday night.
After a third-place finish in the MAIS 6A state tournament, the Patriots drew a tough matchup in the first round of the MAIS overall state tournament with the MAIS 5A state champions in Heritage Academy. Jackson Prep stepped up in a huge way and came out firing to come away with the win.
“Heritage is a really good team with two truly special players and I was just proud of the way our guys battled,” Jackson Prep Head Coach Zach Allison said. “In playoff basketball, anything can happen. We had a hot start and then hit a bit of a lull during the middle of the game, but we just kept battling.”
Jackson Prep led for the entire game, but had to hold off multiple Heritage Academy comeback attempts to come away with the win.
“They cut it to a three-point lead late, but we just found a way in the end,” Allison said. “That’s the phrase of playoff basketball, you just have to find a way to win.”
Part of the reason that Jackson Prep was able to hold onto their lead for the entire game against a scrappy Heritage Academy team was their depth and scoring off the bench, along with players stepping up their game in the postseason. Sophomore Cray Luckett stepped up and scored 16 points to lead the way for Jackson Prep and the Patriots saw some high-level minutes from other players who rose to the occasion of the postseason.
“I always tell our guys, we have eight starters,” Allison said. “We play eight guys and they all shuffle in, sometimes our guys off the bench play 25 minutes depending on the matchup and what we need on the floor. Our guys just do a great job of being unselfish and doing everything the team needs.”
Jackson Prep also features one of the state’s best athletes in Kevin Roberts, who added 14 points and six rebounds as the primary big man inside for the Patriots. Roberts, a junior, is also a top-ten recruit in the country in baseball, but has rapidly improved as the season has gone along on the basketball floor.
“Kevin is a monster man, he’s so unselfish,” Allison said. “We honestly need to get him the ball more than we do. We tell our guys all the time the big guys don’t get love, but he does a great job on the defensive end for us as well as a defender and rim protector.”
The win for Jackson Prep moves the Patriots on to the MAIS overall quarterfinals, as they look to get back to the state title game, after a semifinal loss to MRA in last year’s overall tournament. Jackson Prep will take on the MAIS 3A runner-up, Hillcrest Christian, in their quarterfinal matchup on Monday at Mississippi College, with tip-off set for 6 PM.