Jackson holds off Arlington in top-10 Wesco crossover clash

ARLINGTON, Wash. – You either live by the '3' or die by the '3' - and the Jackson boys basketball team was brought to life by its 3-point shooting in a 67-61 win over Arlington on Friday night.

The Timberwolves connected on six 3-pointers in the first quarter and raced out to a 17-6 lead early in the game.

Senior wing/forward Sylas Williams hit Jackson's sixth deep ball right before the buzzer and the Timberwolves led 23-11 after the first eight minutes.

"Obviously, we shot the ball well early and that always helps," Jackson coach Steve Johnson said. "We were pretty dialed in and pretty focused, and when we weren't shooting it as well, we still found other ways to score."

Jackson cooled off a bit in the second quarter as the Eagles started to find a rhythm.

Arlington opened the second quarter on an 11-2 run to trim the Timberwolves' lead to three at 25-22.

But anytime the Eagles got within a possession or two, Jackson responded and put Arlington back in a hole. What followed was a 7-3 run by the Timberwolves as they headed into the break with a 32-25 lead.

"I think that's really about getting more mentally tough as the season goes on," Johnson said about his team's ability to answer. "A good team like Arlington is always going to make a run – they're not just going to wilt and let you take control of the game. You have to have the mentality of answering back."

Arlington sophomore guard Leyton Martin found his shot in the second half, scoring 15 of his 19 total points, but as good as the Eagles were on offense, they couldn't string together stops on defense.

The Eagles and Timberwolves found themselves locked in a back-and-forth fight in the second half, matching baskets – and empty possessions – much of the way.

Martin led Arlington with his 19 points. Senior center David Zachman scored 18 and senior guard Ty Rusko had 17.

"If I'm being picky I wish we had a few more defensive stops and didn't trade baskets as much, but we got the ball where we needed to and stepped up and made some free throws," Johnson said. "Whenever they got it to three points we always built that lead back up, so that's encouraging to see."

The game between Jackson and Arlington was initially scheduled for November as both teams' first game of the season.

Weather forced the game to be rescheduled to the end of the season, giving both teams a game against a quality opponent late in the regular season.

"It worked out because we were both hoping we would be playoff teams and now we got to play a good, tough game leading up to the playoffs," Johnson said.

Williams scored a game-high 26 points to lead Jackson. Senior forward Caden Sproul added 15 and senior guard Ty Hale contributed 14 for the Timberwolves.