Published: March 03, 2006 09:25 am      

Red Devils save the best for last

Basketball team finding its feet at season's end

After 21 games, the negative talk that’s been directed toward the Jackson High School Red Devils’ boys basketball team this season might have come to an end. Now, the Red Devils and their fans are using different, more positive methods to describe their 2005-2006 season. Perhaps the best way to describe the Red Devils current play is the famous saying of “save the best for last.” And that’s just what Jackson has done.

Over the last month, Head Coach Vincent Rosser and the Red Devils have played their best basketball of the year. And with only five regular season games left on the schedule, four of those being region games, the Red Devils couldn’t have picked a better time to do it.

While their record doesn’t indicate it, ask any Red Devil fan who’s been in attendance since the first game of the season and they’ll tell you that the Red Devils are finally starting to look like a team who can win on any given night.

The reason for the recent turn around is due to the team’s new found confidence. Early in the season the Red Devils were searching for leaders to carry the team-that mission has been accomplished.

Junior forward Keldric Appling has stepped up to be the team’s primary ball handler and recently the Red Devils’ leading scorer. Appling has averaged nearly 20 points-per-game in the current stretch that’s spanned for about 10 games.

Last Tuesday Appling and the Red Devils fought the torrential rains and what felt like 100-mile-per-hour wind gusts to make the long trip to Montezuma to play the Macon County Bulldogs. Jackson’s game with Macon County turned out to be a game full of runs.

Jackson trailed the Bulldogs 14-8 halfway through the opening quarter and then went on a tear. The Red Devils went on a 15-1 run to close the first quarter leading, 23-15. As hot as they were at the end of the first quarter, the Red Devils couldn’t buy a basket to start the second as it was Macon County’s turn to go on a run. The 13-0 run allowed the Bulldogs to regain the lead, but Jackson wasn’t far behind.

Junior John Keye, who has recently found himself in foul trouble, stayed away from the referee’s whistle and at halftime had only committed two fouls. Keye’s presence inside along with Appling’s 10 points kept the Macon County lead in reach at the break at 36-35.

As they did to open the second quarter, the Bulldogs went on a 10-0 run to begin the second half. Jackson went scoreless until there was 1:11 remaining in the third allowing the Bulldogs to open their lead and forcing Jackson to play catch up for the remainder of the game.

Thanks to the Bulldogs’ run, Macon County’s lead grew to 11 by the end of the third quarter. Macon County led by as many as 13 with 6:07 left in the game, but Jackson again woke up offensively late in the fourth quarter. The Red Devils went on a 9-0 run and with 1:52 left in the game cut the lead to six.

The six-point deficit was as close as Jackson was going to get though. The Bulldogs ended the Red Devils’ run and chance of a victory with a late three-pointer to go ahead 69-60. Both teams added one more basket, but in the end it was Macon County pulling out the 71-62 victory over the Red Devils. Appling again led the way scoring with Keye adding in the nine-point loss. With the loss the Red Devils fell to two games below .500 in the region at 3-5.

Three days later Jackson was again back at home to open a weekend series at The Garden with Pike and Crawford Counties.

Friday night it was Pike’s turn to challenge Jackson. Coming into the game Pike County was 1-8 in region play and wasn’t expected to have a chance at a victory over the taller and faster Red Devils. But, Pike proved otherwise.

Turnovers eliminated Jackson from having any chance to lead in the first quarter and when the horn blew it was the 1-8 Pirates who led the Red Devils, 15-11. Jackson rebounded nicely in the second quarter regaining its composure and offensive scheme. Surprisingly, after working all season at getting the ball inside, the Red Devils turned to junior Carlous McKibben who was lighting it up from beyond the arc.

McKibben came off the bench in the second quarter and connected on two consecutive three-pointers to help Jackson go into halftime tied with the Pirates at 31.

The Red Devils didn’t lead in the game until halfway through the third quarter after an Appling layup. By the end of the third the Red Devils were clinging to a one-point lead over the Pirates, 47-46.

Jackson struggled again in the fourth quarter allowing Pike to open its biggest lead of the game at 57-50 with 4:30 left in the game. Jackson twice cut the Pirate lead down to three in the final moments, but never could get any closer.

The Red Devils had a chance to tie, but a missed three-pointer by McKibben with six seconds left on the clock forced Jackson to foul Pike’s best free throw shooter. Leading 65-62 the Red Devils needed Pike to miss both free throws to have a chance. The first free throw seemed to take the life out of the Red Devils as the team was forced to watch the first free throw swish right through the net.

Leading by four with less than two seconds left on the clock, the Red Devils knew the game was over. Pike went on to connect on both attempts and after a missed halfcourt shot by Appling, the Pirates left The Garden stealing a victory from the Red Devils, 67-62. While the Pirates improved to 2-8 in the region, Jackson’s downward slide continued with the Red Devils falling to 3-6 in the region.

Appling led the way by scoring 21 with Keye on his heels with a 20-point performance.

Coming into Saturday’s rematch with Crawford County, the Red Devils could have easily given up on the season. And after the luck they’ve had recently who could blame them? But, the Red Devils did just the opposite by playing their best game of the season against the Eagles. Crawford defeated Jackson eight days earlier by beating the Red Devils inside both offensively and defensively. Knowing what happened in Roberta on January 13, the Red Devils were ready to beat Crawford at its own game.

The Red Devils, who started the game with two freshman, two juniors and a senior, got to work immediately and kept the Eagles off the glass and out of the paint. Jackson’s defense held the Eagles to only 14 points in the first quarter, but with Appling, the Red Devils’ leading scorer, on the bench with two early fouls for most of the quarter, Jackson struggled offensively, only putting up nine points in the first.

Jackson’s offense returned in the second and after freshman Chris Pope hit a free throw, the Red Devils took their first lead over the Eagles at 15-14 with 5:19 left in the first half. With Appling having to lay back due to foul trouble, it was the freshman Pope stepping up for the Red Devils.

Rebound after rebound, the freshman was keeping Crawford’s 6’6” senior, who dumped 30 against Jackson in the two teams’ last meeting, off the glass and off his back.

Pope’s rebounding, which Jackson has done as little as possible throughout the season, allowed the Red Devils to create a transition offense with Keye and Appling.

Eventually, the Eagles, who were struggling early on the inside, opened its outside game, finding the holes in the Red Devils 2-3 zone and began warming up from three-point land. Crawford regained the lead, and at halftime led the Red Devils, 28-23.

The Red Devils nearly let the game slip away again in the third quarter, trailing by nine, but Keye took over and with help from Pope’s rebounding and Duston Waits’ three-pointers, the Red Devils went on an 8-0 run to end the third and begin the fourth cutting the lead to 38-37.

The Red Devils cut the Eagles’ lead down to one point six times before finally regaining the lead at 50-49 after Keye threw down a one handed jam over the Eagles’ 6’6” center with 1:49 left in the game.

The Eagles regained the lead at 52-51 with 49 seconds left in the game when Pope was called for his fifth and final foul of the game. The freshman was loudly applauded and left to a standing ovation as he made his way to the bench. While he had freshman only scored six points, his impressive rebounding performance was something appreciated by the Red Devil fans.

Jackson had two chances to reclaim the lead with less than 24 seconds left on the clock. While Rosser wanted the ball in Appling’s hands, Freshman Stel Watts threw up a quick 17-footer that missed short off the front of the rim.

With the Eagles picking up the rebound, Jackson had no choice but to foul. Since the Red Devils were in the bonus, Crawford went to the line to shoot a pair and a chance to open its lead to three. Instead the Eagles missed both free throws and gave the Red Devils another chance at a victory with 14.3 seconds left in the game.

After a Red Devil timeout, junior Tiger Hill went baseline and threw up a short jumper just in front of the rim. Hill’s shot was an air ball and again gave the Eagles possession with 4.9 left on the clock. This time Crawford connected on both free throws and indeed opened its lead to 54-51.

Jackson had one last chance to get a three-pointer off and tie the game. The Red Devils inbounded underneath the Eagles’ basket to Watts. The freshman was quickly trapped, and while looking for help from Appling, threw the ball away sealing the victory for Crawford County, 54-51.

Appling, who’d been averaging nearly 20 a game, was never a factor as the Eagles were able to hold the junior to only six points. Keye led the way with 19, but the jinx on the Red Devils still sat on their shoulders as the team fell to 3-7 in Region 4AA with only five games, four of those being region, left in the season.

After losing five games in a row the Red Devils were back in action last night against the team they last beat on January 10, the Rutland Hurricanes. Jackson will be in Lamar County Friday night to take on the Trojans and in Henry County County Saturday to play the Warhawks before returning home Tuesday for their last home game of the regular season when they take on Macon county.