Photo by Robert Smith
By Robert Wilson
FLOWOOD – The Jackson Prep boys lost for the first time this season after 10 straight wins with a one-point decision at Oak Forest, La., Academy Thursday night.
Prep was determined to start a new winning streak Saturday when Leake Academy came to town.
Mission accomplished.
Prep scored 46 points in the first half and defeated Leake 77-52 before an estimated 900 at Jackson Prep’s Patriot gym.
Senior guard EJ Vaughn had 17 points (12 in the first half) and four assists, 6-foot-5 junior forward Kevin Roberts had 13 points (11 in the first half) and 12 rebounds, and senior guard and Tatum and Wade/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Preseason Elite 11 member Ben Segrest and 6-6, 260-pound senior forward and Duke football signee Cole Allen had 10 points each. Segrest – who was presented a ball for scoring his 1,000th career point this week before the game – had nine points in the first half. Allen came off the bench to score in double figures.
Second-year Prep coach Zach Allison has all five starters returning from last year’s 25-12 record, a MAIS Class 6A runner-up and Overall Tournament semifinal team. The Patriots were so impressive in their first 10 wins, MaxPreps ranked them No. 98 in the country in its Top 100 teams poll last week. They were the only Mississippi team ranked. Six of Prep’s first 10 wins were against MHSAA teams.
“I was proud of the way our guys competed for 32 minutes,” said Allison, who took over at Prep when longtime Metro Jackson coach Tim Wise – 25 seasons at Millsaps College (men’s basketball coach and athletic director) and Prep (boys basketball coach) – moved back home to Memphis two years ago. “Leake got out to a hot start from 3. After the first quarter, our defense settled in and was effective. We were able to force some turnovers and create some pace within the game.”
Allison has had to play without two returning starters (senior forward De’Marion Tyler and senior guard John Ed Maddux) and three other players who played football on Prep’s Class 6A state runner-up team for some of the 10-game winning streak, but some younger players like sophomore guards Cray Luckett and EJ Napier and sophomore forward Joseph Craney have stepped and played well.
“It has been less than two weeks of having our whole team together,” Allison said. “Our guys are learning how to play as one team and share the ball on the offensive end. I have been most proud of our defensive effort and our willingness to share the ball every possession.”
Allison was happy with his team’s bounce back from their first loss this year. Prep outscored Leake 22-12 in the second quarter for a 46-32 halftime lead.
“We have a next play mentality,” Allison said. “So for us (after losing to Oak Forest), we just wanted to get back to work. Oak Forest is very talented (one of the favorites in Class 5A with a 12-1 record with two wins over 6A Madison-Ridgeland Academy and its only loss in the season opener against 6A Madison St. Joseph) and a well-coached team. We battled hard and had chances to win. We came back the next day and wanted to improve and work on us.”
Prep’s next game is against MHSAA Class 4A state championship contender Choctaw Central Friday in the BASSA Invitational at Mississippi College in Clinton and three games at the Big Orange Classic Dec. 26-28 in Hoover, Ala. Prep defeated Choctaw Central 71-65 Dec. 6 at Choctaw Central in Philadelphia.
MAIS Class 5A Leake – which dropped to 11-4 (two of those losses to 6A Prep and Hartfield Academy) – was led by 6-1 junior Samuel Prince with 25 points, 15 in the first half. Prince is the younger brother of former Leake star and MAIS Class 5A Player of the Year Miriam Prince, now a sophomore guard on Division I Louisiana Monroe. Samuel – who has an offer from East Central Community College – is averaging 23.6 points per game and had a career-high 40 points against Pillow Academy this season.
“Prep is a well-conditioned team who plays relentless full court defense,” said third-year coach Jason Morgan, who took over for longtime Leake boys coach Phil Shephard, who retired three years ago. “I really like their pace on defense, and they run the floor really hard on offense. Coach Allison is an extremely creative mind on offense, and his guys run great stuff and great inbounds plays as well. We have either played or scrimmaged almost all the 6As already. Prep has as good a chance to win 6A state as any of them.
“As for how my guys played, I thought we came out with some real grit and toughness in the first period. Hit some shots early and did a solid job against pressure early on. As the game progressed, I thought we looked a little tired and got a little soft on defense, especially in transition. But there were also some positives to build on, and we will get better as a result of tonight’s experiences.”
