↓ JACKS RISE ABOVE GIANTS @ CLASSIC

By: Matthew A. Anderson

Behind Maurice Jones' 35 points, Arthur Hill downed top ranked Kalamazoo Central, 81-74, in a thriller that saw over a dozen lead changes and several momentum swings down the stretch.

What a difference a week makes. Last Saturday Arthur Hill hosted De La Salle and were humbled by 22 points, being down by over 30 at times. They had to play most of the game without their Mr. Basketball candidate, Maurice 'Pookie' Jones however. By the time he entered the game, late in the 2nd half, the outcome had already been decided. This weekend, against top ranked Kzoo Central, the Jacks were at full strength and they showed just how good they can be with their floor general.

The game started at a frantic pace with Kzoo Central scoring the first two buckets before Arthur Hill even caught their breath. The Jacks answered with buckets from Jordan Hare and a three ball by Jones. Dyland Hughes answered with a 3 ball of his own to but the Maroon Giants back up by 2. Hughes had scored the Giants' first 7 points. At that point, however, Arthur Hill went on a 10-0 run and gained an 8 point lead at 15-7. The finished the quarter up by 6, 19-13 and primarily with Jones not getting it in the basket but feeding his team scoring opportunities.

The 2nd quarter saw two huge swings in momentum. After Jones put the Jacks up by 8 to start the 2nd quarter, Kzoo Central reeled off a 14-2 run and with 3:53 left in the half, they were up 27-23. 4 different Giants scored during the blitz. Then came the answer by Arthur Hill, as they closed out the quarter on a 12-3 run, to go into the break up 35-30 and all without Pookie scoring during the run, but again, being the driving force in running the offense and getting his teammates looks. The Giants were destined to make a big 2nd half push and Jones was going to have to kick it up even a notch further to defend home court.

The first quarter belonged to the Lumberjacks, the 2nd was pretty even and the third was where the Giants chipped away at the lead and finally mustered control. With about a minute and a half to play in the quarter, the Giants nailed a three ball and pushed their own lead up to 4, 56-52 but they couldn't distance themselves enough, as the Jacks battled back to make it just a 2 point lead after 3, 57-55.

The 4th belonged to Arthur Hill and primarily Jones but not before the Jacks went down by 6 points with 5:41 left in the game. It was at that point that Jones took over, as he went on to score 15 points in the final stretch, 11 of them from the line. The dramatic turn came with 2:52 left in the game, when Kzoo Central was hit with a technical foul. Pookie drained 3 of the 4 free throws to give the Jacks the lead. From then on out, they made sure that was the last change in momentum. The Jacks went on a 23-8 run to swing the game in their favor and close the game out late by Jones hitting clutch free throws at the line. At the final buzzer, Arthur Hill earned a 81-74 win. While Jones was the driving force, his teammates stepped it up big time. The defense and board work of Tyler Dwyer (9 points), Kwincey Tucker (7 points) along with Jordan Hare's inside presence that altered countless shots, were huge factors in the game. Fred Harvey had 10 huge points and had buckets in some of the most crucial moments during the first 3 quarters.

Dyland Hughes led Kzoo Central with 20, while Devin Oliver put in another solid performance with 18 hard earned points. T.J. Buchanan had 16 as well.

Both teams have monster match-ups again on the horizon. Arthur Hill will take on defending Class A champion, Detroit Pershing next Saturday at the Roundball Classic. Kalamazoo Central will host Rockford on December 29th.

Check out the Hardwood wrapUP on the Arthur Hill Holiday Classic @ The Legends247 Blog here. AHHS Holiday Classic