Jackson South Side showed resilience in its win over Covington
If Jackson South Side wanted to get to Murfreesboro, TN, it had to beat a scrappy Covington team without junior wing Brandon Maclin, who was sidelined with a left foot injury. The Hawks also had a period when they had…
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Continue ReadingIf Jackson South Side wanted to get to Murfreesboro, TN, it had to beat a scrappy Covington team without junior wing Brandon Maclin, who was sidelined with a left foot injury.
The Hawks also had a period when they had to contain forwards TyJuan Smith and Brandon Alston without senior forward J.J. Johnson, who was dealing with foul trouble early in the first half.
Luckily, Jackson South Side was deep enough and was able to hold off the Chargers for the 77-57 victory.
It could be said that the entire city of Jackson was at the Hawks’ gym Monday night. Forty-five minutes after school was dismissed, the line at the gym was wrapped around the building. The tickets for the sub-state matchup sold out in an hour.
An hour before tip-off, all of the seats were already taken, and the remainder of the ticket buyers were standing behind both rims. Jackson South Side came into the game undefeated, and the home crowd didn’t want to miss a chance of seeing the Hawks continue their win streak at the pivotal time of the season.
Jackson South Side was battled tested during the regional tournament in games against Dyersburg and South Gibson. But, this group doesn’t seem to get rattled.
On Monday night, the Hawks built a 21-11 lead off a 3 by Janais Parram, but Covington cut its deficit to 21-20 and it was a 32-30 game at halftime.
Jackson South Side struggled to make shots as a team in the first half. Parram carried the offense with 12 points, but in the second half, the Hawks started to click and was able to build a double-digit lead early in the fourth quarter and didn’t look back.
The resilience of this team can’t be questioned. Jackson South Side was able to win by double-digits with Maclin sidelined and Johnson on the bench in foul trouble. Johnson was never able to get into rhythm. He missed a lot of easy scores under the rim and went 1 for 6 from the free throw line.
Yet, the team had five players to score in double figures. Parram led the way with 21 points. Jailen Anderson had 12. Josh Anderson added 11. Jaylan Cole and Rico Sain each had 10 points.
Most teams would fold if they didn’t have their best players on the floor, but not this team. Everyone just pitched in together to get the win.
“I think these kids are resilient,” said head coach DaMonn Fuller, who admitted, while smiling, that he didn’t get much sleep on Sunday night. “They were a little shaky, but you know, you see all of these people in this gym playing a good Covington team, they just had to settle down. In the second half, they came out, they were poised, and they did what they needed to do.”
Maclin, who’s 6-foot-4, stood up for most of the game, cheering his teammates on for the entire 32 minutes. The junior was just as loud as his head coach. He never doubted what his teammates could do without him.
He always had faith in their abilities to win an important game.
“Our guys stepped up,” Maclin said. “Everybody played big. Everybody played their role tonight. One man down, that means everybody has to step up, and I think they did that pretty well.”
Maclin is expected to be back in time for the state tournament. His team was good enough to win one game without him, but the Hawks will need Maclin to bring the gold ball home to Jackson, TN.
End of the road
Covington’s season is officially over. The careers of Travonte Powell, Myles Starks, Martez Logan, Alston and Smith are over. In the Chargers’ final game of the season, Alston led the team with 15 points, Powell added 14.