MANSFIELD — The young Mansfield St. Peter’s basketball team was in uncharted territory on Friday night.
Fortunately, the Spartans (23-3) had a guide who knew the high-pressure landscape all too well.
The result was an improbable, come-from-behind, 57-52 win in a Division IV district championship game against a more seasoned Sandusky St. Mary’s team.
Both teams had talented athletes, though St. Mary’s had the Northwest Ohio Division IV Player of the Year in 6-foot-6 senior Trenton Zimmerman. Both squads came in with great momentum and great gameplans. The two teams met in December and knew each other well.
So what was the biggest difference for the Spartans, who trailed most of the night only to rally in the final moments and steal the win?
In my opinion, it was the calm, yet steely, hand of St. Peter’s coach Joe Jakubick.
The Madison High School graduate and former University of Akron scoring sensation is only in his second year as St. Peter’s coach. But it’s far from his first rodeo.
Jakubick coached the Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary girls’ team for 10 years. That tenure resulted in a 156-78 record and a trip to the state semifinals in his final year.
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT
There are few situations Jakubick has not seen as a player and/or coach. So when his team fell behind by seven points in the second quarter and again late in the third, the coach showed no panic.
Jakubick simply made judicious use of his timeouts and calmly talked his players, including his two star sophomores, Mason Campbell, and his own son, Jared Jakubick, through the rough patches.
Rather than allow emotions to rule, Jakubick made his team focus on the strategies that would bring them back.
Strategies that included collapsing on Zimmerman every time he got the ball inside. Strategies that included convince Jared, held to two points through three quarters, that it was time to assert himself. Strategies that allowed Campbell to continue firing away from long range.
Not once did Jakubick lose his cool on the sidelines during the game or in the huddles during timeouts or between periods. High school players, especially the youngest ones, feed off their coaches. The Spartan players know their coach has experienced it all on the court. Jakubick’s calmness and focus on strategy and effort rubbed off on his players.
When the Willard High School gym lights shone brightest in the fourth quarter, the Spartans never wilted. St. Peter connected on four of six field goals in the final eight minutes and added eight of 12 at the line. The veteran Panthers (22-4) were 4 of 15 from the field and just 1 of 2 at the line.
In addition to the sophomores, junior point guard Tyson Kent took care of the basketball and harassed the St. Mary guards. Senior Ryan Payne had three points in the final period and plucked crucial rebounds at both ends of the floor.
IT’S NO ACCIDENT
These kinds of clutch performances don’t just happen. They are the result of countless hours spent in the practice gym, with Jakubick teaching the game to a group of young men eager to learn. They are the result of seeing their coach’s knowledge of the game play itself out on courts all over north central Ohio.
Coaching is showing your players a vision, teaching them to achieve that vision, and then holding them accountable for their efforts.
In 36 years of covering high school sports, I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen the younger, more inexperienced team under that kind of postseason pressure swallow their fears and simply focus on what they need to do to win.
That rally on Friday night, outscoring St. Mary’s 12-3 in the final 3:49, may not propel the Spartans to the state tournament in Columbus. There are huge regional tournament games this week in Bowling Green, beginning Tuesday night against McComb.
I suspect Jakubick’s message since the celebration ended Friday night may have mirrored what legendary football coach Lou Holtz once said, “If what you did yesterday seems big, you haven’t done anything today.”
One thing is clear. When the lights are shining brightest this week and beyond, the Spartans know they need only look to their coach for guidance, resolve and strategy.
Coach Jakubick knows the path to take.
