By Robert Wilson
Jackson Academy boys basketball coach Jesse Taylor put together one of the toughest schedules in school history and one of the toughest in Mississippi this year for moments like Saturday afternoon when his Raiders played Madison St. Joseph in a key MAIS Class 4A, District 1 matchup and a battle between two of the top three rated MAIS teams in Mississippi at JA’s Raiderdome in Northeast Jackson.
JA, led by senior guard Marcus Goodloe and 6-foot-6 junior forward Austin Richards, jumped out to a 13-point lead after one quarter, and kept ahead of St. Joe the rest of the game despite several runs by the Bruins to end their 10-game winning streak and hand them their first loss to an MAIS team this season with a 60-55 victory.
JA – ranked No. 19 in Mississippi and No. 2 in MAIS Class 4A behind Madison-Ridgeland Academy by MaxPreps – improved to 12-6 overall and 3-0 in district play. The Raiders defeated the Bruins for the ninth consecutive time and hasn’t lost in this series since the 2018-2019 season.
St. Joe – ranked No. 28 in Mississippi and No. 3 in MAIS Class 4A – dropped to 17-2 overall and 2-1 in district play. The Bruins had not lost since a 44-36 decision to MHSAA Class 7A West Harrison Nov. 29 in Gulfport. St. Joe was 13-0 against MAIS teams this season before Saturday.
Other than MHSAA Class 4A Choctaw Central, JA has the toughest schedule among non MHSAA Class 7A or 6A teams this season, according to MaxPreps.
Not only has JA played its normal tough schedule against MAIS and MHSAA teams, the Raiders went outside of Mississippi to get even more competition. JA played four teams from Louisiana, including Zachary, ranked No. 1 in the state, and Hoover High, ranked No. 5 in Alabama.
JA’s only MAIS loss is a 65-55 decision to MRA Dec. 2 at MRA. The Raiders’ only two other in state losses were to MHSAA Class 6A Jim Hill and MHSAA Class 5A Columbus, both state championship contenders in their respective classes.
“Our schedule has prepared us for the second half of the season,” said Taylor, a former Mississippi College guard who has a 95-22 record (a 81.2 percent winning percentage with one Overall Tournament title (2024), two state titles (2024 and last season), and one Overall runner-up finish (last season) in his fourth season at head coach and being assistant coach for three seasons at JA. “We have challenged our guys tremendously, with the opponents we have faced. I am confident it will help the Raiders down the stretch.
Goodloe – a member of the Tatum and Wade/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Metro Jackson Elite 11 Team – had 19 points, including 12 of 12 shots from the free throw line, with 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Richards, son of former Mendenhall High and Southern Miss standout Anthony Richards, had 14 points, 13 in the first half, with 16 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
“Our biggest key (on the St. Joe game) was resiliency. We’ve talked all year about responding to adversity, and tonight our guys showed that. Marcus and Austin really set the tone. Marcus played with tremendous effort and toughness, made big plays when we needed them down the stretch. Austin was steady and composed. He is on a double double tear right now. He had great energy on both ends of the floor tonight. Their combined leadership and performances were huge for us, and it reflected the fight and belief this whole team has.”
“The reason we won today is because we as a team stayed together and we were resilient even when St. Joe went on a run,” Goodloe said. “We weathered the storm and kept our focus on winning. Our tough schedule has prepared us for January and February We know how to get through tough stretches because we’ve been there before and we know how to handle it, which really is a blessing for us as a team.”
Despite getting off to a low start, St. Joe battled back. JA led 32-20 at halftime, but the Bruins closed the gap to 44-39 after three quarters and then got within four at 57-53 on a 3-pointer by senior guard Chris Gordon with 32 seconds to play.
Goodloe made two free throws and St. Joe 6-5 senior forward Jhayce Harris made a bucket to close the gap to 59-55 with 17 seconds to play.
Richards made his only point of the second half with a free throw with 15.2 seconds to play for the final margin.
Senior guard and Meridian Community College commitment Chris Gordon led St. Joe with 23 points. Senior guard and Jones County Junior College signee Joe Anthony – a member of the Elite 11 Team like Goodloe – had 14 points.
“I thought we started off really slow and couldn’t get into rhythm,” said St. Joe coach Michael Howell, who has a 219-61 record (78.2 percent winning percentage) in his ninth season as head coach at St. Joe. “JA did a good job of mixing defenses to keep us off balance. Once, we got a rhythm in the second quarter I thought we played pretty well. Our keys to the game were to limit turnovers and rebound well and we did one of those well. I think they outrebounded us by probably 20 and that’s on me. We need to work harder in that area and we will get that fixed. (Senior forward) Chase Cox leads us in rebounding at over 10 per game but he was in foul trouble and that had something to do with it. I thought Chris played really well and carried us during the second and third quarters. Chris led all scorers with 23 points, which is around his average. Joe gets so much attention from the opposing defenses that other guys will get opportunities. (Senior) Tre Williams was one of those guys tonight and hit some big shots down the stretch to give us a chance. We will see them again at the end of the month and it will probably be another really good game.”
