City of Basketball Love

Mitchell Gladstone (@mpgladstone13)
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WARRINGTON — Every shooter has his night. Sometimes, it’s a steady flow of points where you look up at the scoreboard and suddenly, a guy has 20 or 25 points.

On other occasions, it’s a sudden burst of offense and everybody knows exactly who in that gym has the hot hand.

Tuesday night, it was the latter for Central Bucks East’s Joe Jackman.

The Patriots junior ripped off 15 straight points for his team, spanning the third and fourth quarters, as CB East closed out a crucial 54-40 road win at Central Bucks South. Not only did the result mean redemption for the Patriots — they lost to the Titans on their home floor in December — but it kept them in the race for a potential spot in the Suburban One playoffs.

“We can’t look ahead,” CB East coach Erik Henrysen said afterwards. “We’re just looking at the next game and we did a good job focusing on CB South. … At the end of the year, if the [District 1] power rankings work out, wonderful, but we’re just going to focus on the next task at hand.”

Each game at this point is vital for the Patriots.

They currently rank No. 12 in District 1 6A and would need a lot to go their way if they are going to catch No. 8 Pennridge, who currently holds the final first-round bye slot in the district rankings as well as first place in the Suburban One Continental standings.

“We knew we had to come in and get this game,” Jackman said. “We shot 4-of-29 [the last time against CB South]. We knew we were going to come in and get our shots.”

And get those shots they did. The 5-foot-11 Jackman poured in seven of his team’s 11 first-quarter points and shot 9-of-19 from the field with four 3-pointers, bringing his season total from long distance to 49.

Through Tuesday’s game, the junior is averaging 20 points per game, and more nights from veterans like Jackman will go a long way if CB East is going to make a late-season surge.

“I just shoot the ball and think it’s going in every time. That’s my mentality,” Jackman said. “Over the years, I’ve just gotten more confident as a shooter. I feel confident in my abilities and I just know what shots are good for me.”

At times, it seemed like any shot was good for Jackman. After CB South tied the game midway through the fourth quarter, it was one final surge from the Patriots’ standout that pushed things over the top.

Eventually, that began to open things up for classmate Jack Hamilton, who did most of his damage on the defensive end, limiting Titans big man Michael Farley to just two points through the first three quarters and 5-of-17 shooting on the night.

But 6-foot-8 Hamilton got in on the offensive action late, scoring five of his nine points in the final stanza, including a 3-pointer that the icing on the cake to close out a fifth league win.

“He means so much to the team,” Jackman said of Hamilton. “Just him blocking shots demoralizes the other team because they’re right at the rim, it’s a blocked shot and we can get out in transition.”

That said, if CB East is going to do some real damage in these final two weeks of the regular season, it is going to need plenty more offense from Jackman.

The Patriots should be able to take advantage of weaker opposition in its next trio of games — North Penn, Souderton and Quakertown are a combined 6-17 in league play and CB East won two of the earlier matchups by 20-plus points.

And even if neither Henrysen nor Jackman want to discuss it, there’s a very realistic possibility that a whole lot could be at stake in two when Pennridge makes the trip to the Patriots’ home floor.

That means leaning on their stars in the biggest of moments, and there’s no question who is one of them for CB East.

“[Joe] makes me look good,” Henrysen said. “When he’s getting into a groove, we’re a tough team.”

By Quarter: 
CB East:   11 | 8 | 12 | 23 | 54

CB South: 4 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 40

Shooting:
CB East: 19-55 FG, 6-23 3PT, 10-14 FT

CB South: 18-53 FG, 3-12 3PT, 1-3 FT

Scoring:
CB East: Jackman 23, Young 10, Hamilton 9, Charlton 6, Harte 4, Giordano 2

CB South: Farley 10, Waltrich 9, Hackendahl 6, J. Macalindong 6, Dietz 4, Van Zanten 3, Harrison 2