For two teams that have played as fast as the South Pike Eagles and North Pike Jaguars have played in 2014, it seemed appropriate that the first team to slow down its tempo in Tuesday night’s critical Region 7-4A showdown would have an advantage.
That team was Keith Russ’s North Pike Jaguars, who held the ball for nearly four straight minutes to end the third quarter and open the fourth on its way to a 55-44 victory over the Eagles.
“I’m feeling pretty proud of my players,” Russ said after the game. “They played very well tonight and executed down the stretch with some things we don’t normally do.
Leading just 36-33 with a little more than two minutes remaining in the third quarter, Russ had his team spread out around the perimeter and effectively play keep-away from the South Pike defense. The reasoning behind the unorthodox strategy was to force the Eagles out of their usual 2-3 zone defense and into a man-to-man set that Russ felt his team would be more successful against.
The Jags were able to salt away the rest of the quarter, culminating with a Jalen Jackson putback as the third quarter buzzer sounded.
And North Pike wasn’t done killing the clock.
When the Eagles continued playing a zone defense to open the fourth quarter, the Jaguars killed another minute-and-a-half off the clock before scoring again to push their lead to seven points.
South Pike played man-to-man the rest of the game, but were noticeably out of sorts after the Jags changed the pace of the game dramatically.
“They were trying to draw us out of zone and force us into man,” Taylor said. “And that’s what they did.”
North Pike would lead by as many as 15 points in the final quarter before closing out the 11-point victory.
“We came out with great energy tonight,” Russ said. “We played hard for the seniors and played hard in our final home game. It paid off.”
The game’s opening two-and-a-half quarters were a track meet, as both teams tried to push the tempo and beat the other down the floor. North and South Pikes’ similar styles kept the game close throughout, with the Jags’ 15-7 lead through one quarter represented the largest lead by either team prior to the fourth quarter.
The win was critical for the Jaguars, who improved their Region 7-4A record to 6-3 with Tuesday’s victory. North Pike is now tied for second in the region with Lawrence County, whose win over Purvis Tuesday night improved them to 6-3 as well.
Fittingly, the Jaguars and Cougars are slated to square off in both teams’ final regular season game of the season with the region’s No. 2 seed on the line. Lawrence County won the first matchup between these two teams 61-54 in Summit on Jan. 24.
As a result, the Jaguars would have to not only win Friday to earn the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the region tournament, they’ll have to win by at least eight points to work the tiebreaker in their favor.
Tuesday’s loss was equally crippling for South Pike, who entered the game fresh off a Desmond Cook buzzer-beater to top Lawrence County last Friday.
Now at 5-4 in the region, the Eagles sit definitely in fourth-place and await a visit from the McComb Tigers Friday. South Pike does not hold a tiebreaker over either of the teams in front of it, meaning it is locked into the No. 4 seed no matter what happens in its game with McComb.
The No. 4 seed also means a likely rematch with the daunting Tigers in the semifinals of the region tournament.
“We took a big step back tonight,” Taylor said.
North Pike honored six seniors before its showdown with South Pike Tuesday night: Xavius Turner, Jalen Jackson, Langston Smith, D’Hendrick Wells, Devin Abram and Seth Nieman.
“These young men, these seniors, will remember this the rest of their life,” Russ said of Tuesday’s win. “They may not remember the score, but they’ll remember the win the rest of their life.”
