Jackson Center senior guard Jace Mullenhour shoots as Patriot Prep’s Mason Seward defends during a Division IV regional semifinal on Tuesday at Trent Arena in Kettering. Mullenhour scored 31 points and had seven rebounds in the Tigers’ 54-45 win.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
KETTERING — Jackson Center had to endure more blocked shots on Tuesday than it has any other time this season.
And endure them, the Tigers did.
Second-chance points and strong defensive rebounding helped Jackson Center pull away to a 54-45 victory over Columbus Patriot Prep in a Division IV regional semifinal at Trent Arena.
The Tigers (26-1) will face Shelby County Athletic League rival Russia in a regional final at 7 p.m. on Friday at Trent Arena. It’s their fifth regional final appearance since 2012.
Patriot Prep blocked eight shots, five of which were blocked by 6-foot-3 Keith Prysock and 6-5 Darius Butcher.
But Jackson Center brought 12 offensive rebounds and scored 11 points off second-chance looks. Patriot Prep managed four offensive rebounds and had four second-chance points.
“That was huge,” Jackson Center coach Scott Elchert said. “We felt like we needed to do some damage on the offensive glass, and we knew that they were a very good offensive rebounding team. All the tape that we had on them, a lot of their offense came off of offensive rebounding.
“Offensive rebounding has been a big emphasis of ours, and really it always is, but especially over the last two days against this team, knowing how dangerous they can be on the offensive glass.”
Senior guard Jace Mullenhour led the squad with 31 points, 18 of which came in the second half. He made 12-of-19 shot attempts (including 4-of-6 from three-point range) and 3-of-4 free throws.
Mullenhour, who is 5-10, grabbed four offensive rebounds and finished with seven total.
“He doesn’t usually get fazed. He’ll keep firing, that’s for sure,” Elchert said. “The thing that makes Jace so dangerous is he scores so well at all three levels. He shoots the 3, he has a tremendous pull-up game that you saw on display last Friday. And, for his size, he has a knack for scoring inside.
“He’s tough guard for team because of that very fact. When you can score at all three levels, it’s tough to defend.”
Jackson Center couldn’t hold onto a big lead and lost 42-41 to Russia (24-3) in both teams’ season opener on Nov. 25. The Tigers have won 26 straight since, including a 65-53 win over the Raiders on Jan. 6 in Jackson Center.
“It’ll be one heck of a competitive game,” Elchert said.
Patriot Prep scored the first four points, but the Tigers finished on a 9-4 run to take a one-point lead into the second.
Jackson Center continued its hot run, but after Mullenhour went to the bench for a brief break, the squad’s offense went into a funk, and the Eagles started hitting shots. Cameron Thomas hit a long jumper from just inside the right corner shortly before the buzzer to cut the gap to 21-19 at halftime, then hit the first shot of the third to tie it.
The squads exchanged a couple of baskets, but Mullenhour scored five straight points to give the team a 29-23 lead midway through the third.
The Tigers pushed their lead to 38-31 by the end of the quarter, then pushed it to double digits in the fourth before the Eagles made a couple late baskets to cut the final gap to nine.
“When we stayed with our plan, we were solid,” Elchert said. “But to those kids’ credit, they hit some tough shots.”
Jackson Center senior guard Nolan Fark added 12 points and had four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Senior guard Camdyn Reese had six rebounds and five assists.
The Tigers shot 19 for 43 (44.2 percent) from the floor while the Eagles shot 17 for 36 (47.2 percent). Jackson Center had a 28-19 rebounding edge.
Patriot Prep, which was playing in its first-ever regional semifinal, finishes 19-7.
Contact Bryant Billing at (937) 538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.
