MANSFIELD — A pair of small-school heavyweights slugged it out Saturday night and St. Peter’s retained the belt.
Jared Jakubick scored 11 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and the Spartans remained unbeaten with a 67-61 win over previously undefeated Northmor in a battle of state-ranked opponents at the Franciscan Activity Center.
The Golden Knights (14-1) were ranked ninth in Division III in the most recent Associated Press state poll. The Spartans (16-0) were second in Division IV.
They weren’t undefeated for nothing,” St. Peter’s coach Joe Jakubick said. “It was a great learning experience for our team.”
Northmor coach Zach Ruth agreed.
“This is going to help both teams for the postseason,” Ruth said. “Neither team had anything to lose. We’re still undefeated in our conference (the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference) and they’re still undefeated in their conference (the Mid-Buckeye Conference).
“We needed this.”
The Knights fell behind 16-11 after the first quarter and trailed 18-11 after a circus shot by Jakubick fell early in the second, but scored eight straight points to take a 19-18 lead on a Brock Pletcher layup with 5:06 remaining in the first half. Northmor’s defense got a stop on St. Peter’s ensuing possession, but couldn’t extend the lead.
“What we should have done when we were up 19 to 18 was hold the ball and have a really nice half-court possession,” Ruth said. “But we came down and we were a little anxious.”
The Spartans responded with a 14-6 run to close the second quarter and took a 32-25 lead to intermission. Caleb Brown and Elijah Cobb each connected on a pair of 3-pointers during the game-changing spurt.
“That just sort of loosened us up a little bit,” Joe Jakubick said.
St. Peter’s extended its advantage throughout the third and led by as many as 18 points early in the fourth quarter after a conventional three-point play by Jared Jakubick with 5:57 remaining, but Northmor refused to go quietly. The Knights outscored the Spartans 26-14 the rest of the way.
“I thought we were pretty solid defensively until the fourth quarter,” Joe Jakubick said. “I think we started play a little too tentatively. You’ve still got to play solid defense. I thought we got a little careless there a few times.”
The Golden Knights boast one of the biggest and most athletic rosters in all of Division III. The starting lineup included 6-foot-8 Kyle Kegley, 6-foot-7 Tyler Kegley, 6-foot-5 Blake Miller, 6-foot-3 Brock Fletcher and the ultra-athletic 5-foot-8 Meechie Johnson, a two-time state champ in the long jump. Johnson scored a team-high 22, while Pletcher added 21.
“I don’t think (Northmor’s height advantage) had a huge impact,” Jared Jakubick said. “At the end of the day it’s basketball. When you’re playing you don’t think about it.
“I just did whatever I had to do to help our team win. Tonight it was scoring. Other nights it’s going to be rebounding, passing and just playing good defense.”
Elijah Cobb backed Jared Jakubick with 17 points, including seven in the fourth quarter. Caleb Stewart added 11, while Jonah Ramey added nine.
“Elijah and Jared have been in these types of games,” Joe Jakubick said. “But for Jonah Ramey and Luke Henrich and Caleb Stewart and Eli Gurski, for them to be … put in this environment, hopefully they will learn from it and help us become a better team.”
