City of Basketball Love

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)
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CHAMBERSBURG — “Yes, Coach, I’ll do whatever it is to win to get to Hershey.”

Those declarative words served as Tim Jackson’s response earlier this week when Allderdice head coach Buddy Valinsky approached the athletic 6-3 senior wing with a defensive schematic designed ostensibly to collar one particular adversary.

And when Reading’s Lonnie Walker wandered on to the floor — surrounded by thousands of screaming fans — the 6-5 junior soon found himself playing tag with Jackson as the all-or-nothing scrap between a pair of Pennsylvania’s hoops heavies played out at Chambersburg High School’s crammed Field House.

Had Walker taken a seat — even for a mere 30 seconds or so — Jackson likely would have squirmed in between several Red Knights and joined him on the bench.

Yet while the determined Jackson carried out his ever-so-important role with remarkable effectiveness, his twin brother, James, was fueling an Allderdice attack that really heated up in the second half when the Dragons’ lethal transition game enabled the Pittsburgh City League champs to break open a tight contest and pull away to a 70-45 victory in a PIAA Class AAAA semifinal-round encounter.

“We just came to play,” James Jackson said.

James Jackson finished with 32 points and 10 rebounds — the explosive 6-3 senior collected 18 after the halftime break — while Valinsky’s potent Dragons (28-1) also picked up 14 points from Ramon Creighton and 12 more from Tim Jackson.

“I said if we played for four quarters, we could win,” Valinsky said. “We almost played for four quarters, which we haven’t been able to do the last couple games.”

Six Dragons snared five boards or more as Allderdice posted a 42-27 edge on the glass. Valinsky’s club also dished out 16 assists, including five from James Jackson.

“Sometimes the ball falls in the right places,” Valinsky said. “Timmy and Jimmy, they’re like gnats. Everyone that’s played against us, they get by him and there’s another Jackson. They ran the break. They rebounded.

“We scored 70, they scored 45. Just everything clicked. I got lucky tonight because it all clicked and it had to click. It had to click to beat this team and it had to be four quarters — and that’s what we were talking about.”

Thorough dominance — particularly in the second half?

Absolutely.

So thorough, in fact, that Walker was limited to a season-low six points — on seven field-goal attempts — including two free throws awarded in the first half when Tim Jackson was assessed a technical foul.

“I just wanted to get in his head,” Tim Jackson said. “Make him force up bad shots. Make him pass the ball. Take the ball out of his hands.”

“It was great,” James Jackson added, commending his twin. “Best defensive player on my team. Shut him down.”

Khary Mauras topped Rick Perez’s Red Knights (28-4) — Reading was seeking its first state final appearance since Stu Jackson led the giant Berks County school to the 1973 title game — with 16 points and six rebounds.

Up next for Allderdice, which logged its 24th victory in succession, is a first-time berth in Saturday’s championship game at Hershey’s Giant Center. Awaiting the Dragons will be reigning Class AAAA champion Roman Catholic.

Roman Catholic stopped Plymouth-Whitemarsh 64-45 in the other semi.

Down 22-18 after Mauras cashed in on a daring baseline drive with 2:23 to play in the first half, Allderdice ran off seven consecutive points and capped its timely burst when Dajuan Dugger flushed a stickback with 28 ticks remaining.

Isiah Cook’s stickback, however, had the Knights down just one at the break.

“We really didn’t talk about it,” James Jackson said.

“We went in there saying we’ve got 16 minutes left to play.”

And when Cook — Cook finished with nine points — stuck a trey from the right corner to open the third quarter, Perez’s Knights were back in front.

Yet only briefly as James Jackson answered with a trey of his own to push Valinsky’s Dragons ahead — in this case, as it turned out, to stay.

Jackson, who finished with five treys, was displeased by his play in Saturday’s 59-42 conquest of Carlisle. Especially since he only racked up 10 points.

“Last game I came out a little sluggish,” James Jackson admitted. “I had to come out and do what I had to do this game.”

“In practice, we just kept telling him to come back and get yourself together,” Tim Jackson said. “And ball out.”

“Listen, the kid was disappointed the other day when he only scored 10,” Valinsky added. “And James is a gamer. I could see once we got back home that he was ready to play again and he showed out there that he could go by people and finish.

“And he put on a hell of a show.”

While Allderdice methodically increased its lead, the Dragons really stepped on the accelerator in the final moments of the third quarter when James Jackson turned a pair of pilfers into a tomahawk dunk and an easy layup.

“I’ve seen his best for three years,” Valinsky added, tossing another compliment to James Jackson. “His best sometimes is incredible and tonight he was incredible.”

Those hoops had Valinsky’s crew up 44-33 and had Reading reeling.

Particularly since Walker was unable to gain even the slightest amount of traction against the driven Tim Jackson. Walker would add a slick turnaround jumper early in the fourth and a stickback later in the fourth, but that was it.

Thanks to Tim Jackson, Valinsky’s blueprint had morphed into a memorable masterpiece that future Allderdice outfits might stare at indefinitely whenever they scamper into their locker room back home in Pittsburgh.

“I just set my mind on defense and let my other players go on offense,” Tim Jackson said. “I just had to play D. Shut down Lonnie Walker.

“I just had intensity. I just had to shut out and shut down a top player.”

“Listen, he’s a defensive back. He’s a D-I defensive back who will play college football somewhere,” Valinsky said. “So when I said to him the other day, ‘I said are you willing to sacrifice your offense to play defense?’

“Yes, Coach, I’ll do whatever it is to win to get to Hershey. And he locked him down like he played defensive back.”

While Valinsky described his defensive alignment as a 1-3-1 zone with a chaser, with Tim Jackson doing the chasing, three others spread out across the foul line (Creighton and James Jackson bookended 6-9 Tim Pugh) with 6-5 Jordan Rawls or the 6-4 Dugger in position to protect the rim.

“Any time [Walker] dribbled and came nearer [to the hoop], we doubled,” Valinsky said. “If the ball is out of the best player’s hands, he can’t score.

“Once he put it down, we ran at him. If he kept it, then we stayed because we didn’t want to let him throw it over the top,” Valinsky added.

“I have the pieces. I can do a lot of things that other coaches can’t because I have height, I have speed and I have a point guard who’s built like Jerome Bettis.”

Another 8-0 spurt — Tim Jackson cashed in twice at the rim — had Allderdice holding a comfortable 61-43 advantage midway through the fourth.

What also made Tuesday night’s victory even sweeter — inevitably, a number of pieces of chocolate rained on the floor in celebration — was that Allderdice was turned away by Martin Luther King a year ago in the state semis.

And that lasting yet unforgettable sting also occurred in Chambersburg.

“We came here and lost last year,” James Jackson said. “We feel great. We came in knowing we had to win and we got the win.”

No wonder a raucous celebration involving Allderdice players and their sizable student section broke out once the final horn sounded.   

“We’re excited,” Tim Jackson said. “I can’t explain the feeling right now.

“Way different finish. Way different finish.”

“I used to watch the games on TV for all those years and I watched Schenley in ’07, and I said, ‘We could never get there. We don’t have the talent to get on TV and get to Hershey,’” Valinsky said. “But I guess this year is our year.”

A year that’s not quite over.

And when Allderdice bounces onto Giant Center’s spacious floor to meet Roman Catholic, it’ll be a long-awaited matchup between powerful teams from opposite ends of the Keystone State that held down the top two spots in City of Basketball Love’s Class AAAA rankings all season long. 

“No. 1 in the state and No. 2 in the state,” James Jackson said.

“It’s gonna be a good game.