Jackson soars at Bubba Classic

By Chuck Housteau

The Harding senior led Trumbull’s 122-100 victory.

WARREN — Coming off a tough loss in the state semifinals, Warren Harding’s Desmar Jackson just wanted to have some fun in the 8th annual Frank Bubba Memorial Basketball Classic for high school seniors.

The University of Wyoming recruit scored 26 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to win MVP honors while leading the Trumbull County All-Stars to a 122-100 win over Mahoning County.

Jackson also delighted the packed house at Warren Harding with several spectacular dunks during the game and in the Slam Dunk Contest. Jackson lost in the finals to Warren JFK’s Nick Brown when he failed to make his final dunk in the contest.

“We had a lot of fun,” Jackson said. “There wasn’t much defense played. We were just out there having fun in the last game of the year.”

The two squads fired up 230 shots including 51 three-point attempts inn the fast-paced game that even featured a couple of shots by the referees.

“It’s just a fun night to play with all these guys,” said East High standout Kenny Carter who was named MVP of the Mahoning team. “It’s like the coaches rolled the ball out there and said go play.”

Carter led the Mahoning team with 21 points and six rebounds.

“My teammates were great tonight,” Carter said. “My teammates got me the ball in situations where I was able to make some plays.

“I play with almost all these guys in the summer so it was nice to get out and play with them all tonight.”

The Trumbull County team was in control from the start as Jackson pumped in 18 points in the 20-minute first half.

Newton Falls 6-foot-11 center Marcus Fowler added nine of his 13 points in the first half as Trumbull owned a 57-50 lead at the break.

Trumbull opened the lead to nearly 20 points in the second half before Mahoning County came roaring back.

Carter heated up in the second half along with Ursuline’s Dominique Cole who scored 11 of his 17 points in the final 20 minutes.

In the boys three-point contest, Niles’ junior Ryan Frantz edged out Brown 15-14 to win the long-range shootout.

In the Classic’s first game Mahoning County came from behind to grab a 76-64 win.

Cardinal Mooney’s Katie Hughes was named MVP for the Mahoning team as she scored a game-high 19 points including 11 in the second half.

“It feels so great to win this honor,” Hughes said. “It feels good because I’m not sure if I’m going to play basketball or softball in college so this could be my last game.

“We had a lot of fun and we had a great time playing together,” Hughes said. “There was no pressure and as the game went along we got to know each other better and played better.”

Hughes and her teammates battled back from a 20-8 deficit to outscore Trumbull County 39-11 the rest of the first half and grab a 37-31 lead at halftime.

Canfield’s Anokha Padubidri scored six of her 12 points in the half while her Cardinal teammate Kalie Luklan added seven points during the rally.

“It was a great time,” said Western Reserve coach Josh Scott who coached the Mahoning County team. “The hardest part for me was figuring out the substitutions with 13 girls.”

Trumbull County was led by Harding’s Jahmara Warfield who was named MVP after scoring ten points and grabbing nine rebounds in the loss.

Newton Falls’ Kelsey McGregor added nine points and 11 rebounds.

Mineral Ridge sophomore Brittney Bevilacqua won the girls’ three-point contest by making nine baskets.