Jackson brought its athletic and high-flying team to the University of Akron on Thursday night, and Medina coach Chris Hassinger left impressed.
“I would call them a freight train,” Hassinger said outside Medina’s locker room at Rhodes Arena after Jackson rolled to an 80-59 win in a Division I regional semifinal.
“I would say don’t stand in front of them. They are just really, really good. We had no answer for anything that they did. We were trying to take away their easy perimeter 3s — which I don’t think they got a lot of — but I thought we were in decent position a lot of times protecting the basket, and they still got layups and dunks. You just have to give credit to them. They are better than us.”
Seniors Logan Hill and Kyle Young led Jackson (25-2) with multiple slam dunks and blocks against Medina (18-8).
“I love driving middle and knowing that on the left baseline I’ve got Logan to dunk it and on the right baseline I’ve got KY to dunk it,” Jackson 6-foot-5 junior guard Jaret Pallotta said. “That’s a great feeling.”
Hill, a 6-5 University of Toledo recruit, finished with 21 points, four rebounds and three blocks. Young, a 6-7 Butler University recruit, totaled 20 points and nine rebounds.
“This was nice,” Young said. “We stayed focused throughout the whole game. We knew we needed to get to their shooters tonight, which was big for us.”
Kyle Nicolas, a 6-3 senior, had 15 points and three steals, and Pallotta contributed 12 points and 10 assists for the Polar Bears.
Jackson coach Tim Debevec dubbed Pallotta the Polar Bears’ “quarterback on the court.”
“That’s the fourth time this season that Jaret has had 10 assists,” Debevec said. “We defended the 3s and we attacked the rim. We had guys attack the rim with Logan, Kyle and Jaret. ... We look at this game and then move on. We have a quick turnaround against [Toledo] St. John’s [Jesuit on Saturday at UA]. They are awfully good.”
Luke Schaefer, a 6-foot-4 senior, paced Medina with 16 points and four rebounds. The Bees also received valiant efforts from 6-1 senior Ben Geschke (11 points, three assists), 6-4 senior Jimmy Daw (10 points, five rebounds, four steals, three assists), 6-5 senior Sam McKee (seven points, five rebounds) and 6-1 senior Jackson Sartain (seven points).
“They had a lot of height, but I feel like our bigs always kind of have an advantage because we are long, lanky and I think we are mostly athletic,” Hill said.
Jackson led 24-13 at the end of the first quarter, 33-19 at halftime and 55-39 through three quarters. The Polar Bears also received scoring from seniors Dillon Dingler, Sam Shew and Bryce Hawkins and juniors Nick Shatrich and Ethan Stanislawski.
“When we start rolling in the first quarter, we realize it is just a game and we don’t pay attention to the crowd,” Pallotta said. “We have been playing in front of sold-out crowds all year so we are used to it. We just have to be composed in the first.”
Jackson made 32-of-52 shots from the field and Medina converted on 23-of-57 attempts.
“They have to be one of the deepest teams in the state of Ohio,” Hassinger said. “That is why it is important to get multisport athletes, in my opinion, to play basketball, too. Look at what Jimmy Daw did for us tonight. ... He came out here and played like a man.
“They have — what, four or five kids on their team [that are multisport athletes], along with a bunch of really good basketball players. That is a great combination. ... Without a doubt, they are the best team that we have played.”
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the #ABJVarsity high school blog at www.ohio.com/preps.