Champion rallies for win

Mark Jackson's 17 points triggered the Flashes' victory.
By JIM FLICK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
CHAMPION -- The Champion High basketball team stormed back from a narrow halftime deficit Tuesday to defeat Maplewood, 65-59.
Champion (2-2) featured a balanced attack led by Mark Jackson's 17 points. But each of the other four starters scored at least eight points, and two reserves tossed in another 10 points.
The defeat overshadowed an outstanding game by Maplewood's 6-foot-7-inch center, junior Craig Clemson, who scored 23 points and pulled down eight rebounds.
"The key for us was keeping our composure," Champion coach Dan Bubon said.
The score was tied with about four minutes to go, but the Golden Flashes' calmly opened a four-point lead with 1:54 left in the game.
Champion's Caleb Pagley increased the lead when he sank two of four free throws in the final minute, and Jackson sank two more charity tosses as the clock ticked down, allowing the Golden Flashes to survive a long jumper by Maplewood's Mike Hillman that put the final points on the board with 13.5 seconds left on the clock.
First half
The teams traded the lead in a nearly even first half.
Champion held a 15-14 lead after the first quarter, but Maplewood (0-2) went into the locker room at halftime with a 32-30 lead.
However, Champion outscored Maplewood 35-27 in the second half, including an 18-12 bulge in the third quarter and a 17-15 advantage in the fourth quarter.
Jackson sank five of nine shots from the field and seven of eight from the free throw line to lead Champion's attack.
Starters Tyler Kish (11 points), Markel Vaughn (10 points), Justin Shaker (9 points) and Pagley (8 points) were key elements of Champion's attack while reserves Chris Sumner (6 points) and Tom Conrad (4 points) rounded out the Golden Flashes' scoring.
For Maplewood, behind Clemson, Hillman tallied 14 points, Dan McConnell contributed 7 points, and Jarrett Partridge added 4 points. Royce Magdych came off the bench to toss in 8 points.
Ironically, most of the game was played at a pace to Maplewood's liking.
Fast and slow
"We'll try to go fast, they'll want to go slow and get the ball to their big guy [Clemson]," Bubon said.
Most of the game went slow and Clemson's 23 points shows that Maplewood succeeded in getting the ball inside to the "big guy."
Champion doesn't have a player of comparable size; Jackson, who stands 6-1, played center for the Golden Flashes.
"We've got kids that can play," Bubon said.
Maplewood head coach Matt Urchek said the turnovers in the final minute plagued his team's effort.
"We tried to execute our offense and the communication was not there," Urchek said.
"We've got a young team and we're still trying to figure out what the roles are," Urcheck said.