Room to operate…Jackson Center’s Reed Platfoot shoots over Twin Valley South defender Jandon Ankrom during the Tigers 50-39 win Saturday at Garby Gym. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
It wasn’t as clean as Jackson Center tourney triumphs past, but there was plenty of signs of been there, done that, as the Tigers deliver first-year coach Aaron Klopfenstein a win over Twin Valley South, his first in tournament play.
Piqua, OH – There was a sense of foreshadowing in Jackson Center’s 50-39 Division IV sectional tourney win Saturday over Twin Valley South.
“I told the boys that as much as we’ve been here in the past they should feel comfortable with being here,” said first-year coach Aaron Klopfenstein. “We like to feel that Piqua is a friendly confine for us.”
And as it turned out, it was, but not without a strange twist.
For instance, they ultimately won by eleven points, but without any points at all from senior Lucas Hartle, one of the Tigers go-to scorers for most of the season. In his place, a sophomore named Preston Serr came off the bench early in the first quarter with the score tied at 6-6, and proceeded to propel Jackson Center on a 10-0 run with three field goals in the first quarter…and three three-point field goals in the second.
“He (Serr) has been a ball boy for us since he was three feet high,” said Klopfenstein afterwards, and I told him that he’s probably taken more shots in this gym than anyone else on the roster.
Sophomore Preston Serr came off the bench to score 15 first half points, including back-to-back-to-back three-pointers in the second quarter.
Serr must have taken those words to heart, because he converted on 6 of 9 shots for the half for 15 points, while junior teammate, 6’6″ Reed Platfoot, would warm up in the post to score 9 first half points of his own, pushing the Tigers out to a 29-17 lead at the break.
But wait! We’ve written 276 words so far about Jackson Center, and no mention of defense?
For sure, Garbry Gym has been good to the Tigers for the past twenty seasons under coach Scott Elchert, a demanding guru of ‘defend-or-sit-down’ basketball, and to that end Klopfenstein’s version held TVS to just 6 first quarter points…and 17 for the half. Right on schedule, yes?
“Not really,” said the first-year coach afterwards. “I felt like we gave them too many open shots where we didn’t respect them coming off screens, we didn’t handle the screens very well, and we knew they could hit shots. We’ve seen them play in spurts where they scored a lot of points in a hurry.”
Perhaps, despite the fact of the TVS having just a 4-19 record. But some of the very shots that grieved Klopfenstein were shots that the Panthers might not have made on Sunday, or Monday, or Tuesday, were they to play again. Some days the stars just line up right, and the Panthers’ four made three-pointers, and some casts from the paint, didn’t look like shots from the menu. There was an ala carte feel to some of their 39 points, especially in the third quarter when TVS and leading scorer Jace Thuma whittled down a double lead to just eight. It was the only quarter of the four where South outscored Jackson Center, 12-8.
But true to his pre-game logic, those old memories of games past must have enlightened the Tigers at the start of the final quarter as they played sound Jackson Center basketball, and largely out of habit.
Forced to foul, TVS sent Jackson Center to the line 10 times and the Tigers cashed in on 9 of those shots, salting the game away while rebuilding their double digit lead. But…you never know, and those 15 points from Preston Serr never looked bigger than they did in the post-game locker room.
“It was my first tournament game, I was a little nervous, but as soon as a couple of shots went in it really helped my confidence,” said Serr. “I used to be the manager, and that just seems like yesterday. And now I have a jersey on and I’m on the court. I’ll keep working Monday and Tuesday in practice and try to be ready for Wednesday.”
A little tournament defense? Jackson Center’s Lucas Hartle plays a little post defense on TVS’s Jace Thuma.
Of course, the real beneficiary of Serr’s outburst was Reed Platfoot…because when someone hits shots from the perimeter the defense has to go out to honor those shots. And that leaves more room for post players to navigate and score.
“I think I was a little more tentative at first,” said Platfoot. “But as soon as he (Serr) hit those outside shots it opened up the post, and I began to get more one-on-one opportunities.”
Serr led all scorers with his 15 points, Platfoot finished with 13, Lucas Heitkamp had 11, and Trevor Huber finished with 7.
For Twin Valley South…Jace Thuma led the Panthers with 10 points, Seth Vorhis had 6, Trent Ray had 7, Jandon Ankrom had 5, and Chandler Ulrich had 5.
Old habits…retired Jackson Center coach Scott Elchert grimaces while watching the Tigers’ 50-39 win over Twin Valley South.
Sports of all sorts have a way of evening things out. There were no doubt losses from the past when the defense played up to the standard, and when shots from a Preston Serr were nowhere to be found. But in tournament play survival amounts to living in the present.
And for one night, and one game, and one win…Aaron Klopfenstein could hardly contain his smile while talking about it.
But in the top row of the gym, hat pulled down over his eyes, Scott Elchert watched attentively as his former assistant wriggled on the sideline in that one-and-done scenario that characterizes tournament basketball. They improved to 14-9 on the season, and they lived to play another day.
All anyone can ask for in March.
Even Elchert.
Jackson Center’s Lucas Heitkamp fights through traffic to the rim during Saturday’s Division IV action at Piqua High School.
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