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Jackson-Milton survives, topples Lowellville
By BRANDON JUDEH
NORTH JACKSON
The Jackson-Milton High boys basketball team won twice on Friday night. Both were by 43-41 scores. Neither one came easy.
In the closing seconds of the Inter Tri-County League Tier Two game, Lowellville inbounded the ball to Spiro Schialdone, whose shot misfired. Geno Moore grabbed the rebound, then missed the game-tying shot as time expired.
Jackson-Milton celebrated. The officials huddled. And Lowellville got a second chance, .
After deciding Moore was fouled on the shot, he went to the foul line, only to miss both shots.
“Even though there was a foul called, it worked out for us,” said Jackson-Milton coach Gary Nagy. “I feel bad for Moore missing the free throw, but we had the same thing happen to us before too.
“I guess it all evens itself out.”
From the time the Bluejays (9-6, 7-3) broke their first huddle, to the last dramatic seconds of the game, they looked — and acted — calm, cool and collected.
“It was an intense ending, but in order to win you need to know you are going to win, and to be good and play good you need to have fun,” Jackson-Milton’s Zach Nagy. “We warm up fun, we play fun and we win. That is what basketball is all about.”
Indeed it was fun for the Bluejays, especially in the first quarter when they showed off their defensive skills in holding the Rockets (7-8, 5-5) to just four points.
Lowellville, however, got its offense going in the second quarter, led by two 3s by David Wilaj, but Jackson-Milton shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and took a slim four-point lead into intermission.
By the middle of the third period, the Bluejays jumped out to a 12-point lead, thanks in large part to Zach Nagy’s intense defensive presence.
“Defense is the most important part of the game, [Carmen] Donofrio was hitting shots on us all night, so we had to clamp down to pull this game out,” Zach Nagy said. “Now we can build on this and try and win out.”
Nagy had a game high 17 points and added six rebounds, three assists and five steals. John Gherardi chipped in with 10 points and six boards.
Donofrio led the Rockets with 17 points while Wilaj added 14.
Though Jackson-Milton was held to four points in the final quarter, Nagy’s defense and hustle helped the Bluejays hold the lead. At one point he dove into the stands for a ball, hitting his head against the bleachers.
It was the kind of defensive intensity Gary Nagy has been preaching all year.
“We have been stressing to our guys to play good defense and they are starting to believe in themselves and it is showing,” Gary Nagy said.