Louisville Secures 1st Win Over Jackson Since 1979 – Boys Basketball
Louisville 68, Jackson 66
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The Louisville Leopards edged the host Jackson Polar Bears 68-66 Tuesday Night at Jackson High School. With the victory, Louisville is now 11-4 on the season.
Really proud of all of Louisville tonight… That crowd traveled well , that student section was crazy good and these players were unreal. @LouisvilleLeps @LepsAD #theprogram pic.twitter.com/qzn8AtBCM0
— Tom Siegfried (@Leopardbball) January 26, 2022
Nigro & Aljancic Combine for 52 to Lead LHS
Sophomore guard Hayden Nigro and junior guard Will Aljancic combined for 52 of the Leopards 68 points to lead Louisville. Nigro scored 9 of his game high 29 points in the fourth quarter. Aljancic made 3 three-pointers and finished with 23.
Freshman post Brayden Gross also scored 8 and junior guard Tyler Boldon added 4 for the Leopards.
Louisville Hot Out of the Gate
Louisville came out of the gate red hot registering all 4 of their three-point makes in the opening quarter. The Leopards led 23-19 at the end of the first quarter and continued to lead by a slim 36-34 margin at halftime.
Jackson rallied to outscore Louisville 13-11 in the third quarter to knot the game at 47-47 heading into the fourth.
Leopards Prove Clutch in Final Minute
With 37.1 seconds to play in the contest, Nigro broke open on an inbound play from the sideline and scored on an easy lay-in to put the Leopards in front 65-62. Later, Aljancic hit the front end of a pair of free throws with less than 15 seconds to play to give Louisville a two possession 66-62 lead.
— Terrie Horn (@LepsAD) January 26, 2022
Polar Bear junior James Bossart pulled down the rebound after Aljancic missed the second free throw attempt and Jackson quickly stormed down the court to the other end. Senior JJ Vaughan threw up a three-pointer from the right side of the arch that hit its mark to cut the Leopard lead to 66-65 with 3.3 seconds to play.
Gross was fouled immediately and went to the charity stride on the other end for LHS. He made the most of the double bonus by converting both of his attempts from the line to put Louisville ahead 68-65.
The Leopards fouled on defense with 0.6 seconds to go and avoided a potential game-tying three-point attempt in the process. JHS senior Kevin James went to the line for a 1-and-1 attempt and converted the first shot to cut the deficit to 68-66. He intentionally missed the second attempt in trying to get a quick Polar Bear rebound and game-tying put-back. The ensuing shot hit perfectly off the back of the rim and ricocheted to the left. Aljancic contested the rebound attempt which was enough to knock the ball away and end any chance of a shot attempt as the buzzer sounded.
The Louisville players celebrated at mid-court and the student section sang their good-byes.
LOUISVILLE LEOPARDS WIN! pic.twitter.com/FcVu3P3JMj
— Terrie Horn (@LepsAD) January 26, 2022
Vaughan Leads Polar Bears with Team High 18
Vaughan made a pair of three-pointers and finished with 8 of his team high 18 points in the fourth quarter to lead Jackson. James also scored 13 and senior Ben Sullivan added 9 for JHS.
Leopards 1st Win at Jackson in 43 Years
The victory snaps the Leopards 20-game losing streak against the Jackson Polar Bears that began over four decades ago. Louisville last defeated Jackson 64-33 at home on December 21, 1979.
This is also the Leopards first victory at Jackson since defeating the Polar Bears 43 seasons ago on their home court 69-62 back on December 22, 1978. Louisville had lost their last 10 matchups in the series at Jackson coming into the contest.
<<< Previous 2019 | Jackson All-Time Series
UP NEXT: The Leopards will next host the Canton McKinley Bulldogs on Friday, January 28. JV will begin at 6:00 PM and Varsity will follow around 7:30 PM.
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Varsity Statistics
LEOPARDS 68, POLAR BEARS 66
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Louisville 23-13-11-21–68
Jackson 19-15-13-19–66
LEOPARDS: Nigro 10 8-11 29, Aljancic 8 4-7 23, Gross 2 4-4 8, Boldon 2 0-0 4, Lingenhoel 1 0-0 2, Roberts 1 0-5 2. TOTAL 24 16-27 68.
3-Pointers (4): Aljancic 3, Nigro
Team FT: 16-27 59%
POLAR BEARS: Vaughan 7 2-2 18, James 5 3-6 13, Sullivan 4 1-3 9, Jovicic 3 1-2 7, Woolbert 3 1-2 7, Altman 2 0-0 4, Bossart 2 0-0 4, Kistler 2 0-0 4. TOTAL 28 8-15 66.
3-Pointers (2): Vaughan 2
Team FT: 8-15 53%
Fouls: 20-15 Jackson
Records: Louisville 11-4
JV: Jackson 54, Louisville 47
JV Statistics
POLAR BEARS 54, LEOPARDS 47
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Louisville 14-12-9-12–47
Jackson 15-9-17-13–54
LEOPARDS: Marshall 7 4-6 18, Duskey 4 0-1 9, Aljancic 3 0-1 8, Loy 3 0-2 6, Vesely 2 0-0 4, Wymer 2 0-0 2. TOTAL 21 4-10 47.
3-Pointers (3): Aljancic 2, Duskey
Team FT: 4-10 40%
POLAR BEARS: Monturrubio 5 3-6 13, Finefrock 4 0-0 11, Andrews 3 2-2 9, Morena 4 0-0 9, Fuline 3 0-0 6, Mottice 1 2-2 4, Dobina 1 0-0 2, TOTAL 21 7-10 54.
3-Pointers (5): Finefrock 3, Andrews, Morena
Team FT: 7-10 70%
Fouls: 9-8 Louisville
Records: Louisville 9-3
