MANSFIELD, Ohio — Jared Jakubick and his St. Peter’s teammates walked off the floor in disbelief as the final seconds ticked off the clock Friday.
The Spartans had just stumbled through their worst half of the season and instead of cutting down the nets inside the University of Toledo’s Savage Arena, they could only look on in stunned silence as Delphos St. John’s celebrated a 44-43 win in the Division IV regional championship game.
The gut-punch loss spoiled an otherwise outstanding regional tournament for Jakubick, the Richland Bank Athlete of the Week. In two games last week, the junior sharp-shooter was 15-for-22 from the field with 10 rebounds, seven assists and five steals.
He led the Spartans (25-3) in scoring in both regional games, dropping 21 in a 72-45 win over North Baltimore in the semifinals and adding 13 in the loss to the Blue Jays.
The only statistic Jared’s father, St. Peter’s coach Joe Jakubick, was interested in after the loss was his team’s uncharacteristic free throw shooting percentage. The Spartans were 10-for-20 from the line and misfired on 8 of 11 attempts in the second half.
“It’s not that difficult to figure it out,” the elder Jakubick said outside a sullen St. Peter’s locker room. “We’ve got good shooters. Guys normally makes those.”
The Spartans lost in the regional final for a second straight season. The ghosts of last year’s 20-point loss to Associated Press poll champ Van Wert Lincolnview had both tormented and motivated the younger Jakubick throughout the offseason.
“That was my motivation the entire summer,” Jared Jakubick said after Tuesday win over North Baltimore. “Every time I stepped on the court, that’s all I could really think about.
“It drove me to work extremely hard in the summer.”
Jakubick wasn’t alone. Classmates Mason Campbell and Elijah Cobb and senior Tyson Kent made the Franciscan Activity Center their home-away-from-home.
“The work that those guys put in … I’d be willing to say they worked harder than I bet you any players in the state of Ohio,” Joe Jakubick said. “They don’t just go in the gym and play. These guys work on fundamentals.
“This will just eat at them. I’m sure some of them will be in the gym (Saturday) shooting. It’s just in their DNA.”
If Friday’s loss has a silver lining, it’s that Jakubick, Campbell and Cobb all have another year to realize their dream of reaching the state tournament. The Spartans will lose point guard Tyson Kent and center Jake Gurski to graduation.
“We had a really terrific season,” Joe Jakubick said. “We’ve got some holes to fill, but I wouldn’t doubt Elijah Cobb and Jared Jakubick and Mason Campbell.”
