BLUE JAYS DEFENSE CAGES UP THE BEARS
By Ty Bartell
NORTH JACKSON OH- On a basketball filled Saturday in Jackson Township at Jackson-Milton High School, the concluding game featured boys varsity basketball with The Jackson-Milton Blue Jays battling The Leetonia Bears. The Jays came off a win against The United Golden Eagles while Leetonia was coming off a heartbreaking loss against The Southern Indians.
The first quarter had plenty of action with scores coming rapidly in a back-and-forth contest. Behind 7 points from Alex Rotuna in the opening quarter, Jackson-Miltonnwas able to hold a slight advantage 11-10 over Leetonia after a quarter. CJ Faulkner was heating up from the outside for The Bears in the first half, with a triple in the first and two in the second, Faulkner scored 11 points in the first half. However, The Blue Jays managed to work some steals and spread the ball around to hold a 24-18 halftime lead.
The third quarter is when Jackson-Milton bursted the game open! Outscoring The Bears 28-12 in the third quarter when Ryen Romigh scored 14 points to help take 58-40 lead heading into the fourth. Leetonia would show incredible fight and grit and continued to battle The Jays tooth-and-nail, but it was Jackson Milton’s night as The Jays would top The Bears 69-55.
Player of the Game went to Ryen Romigh for putting his team on his back in the third and finishing with 22 points to lead his team. Romigh’s along with Coach Procopio’s interview can be found below! Also with good performances for The Jays included Alex Rotuna (19 points), Cayden Mitchell (13 points) and Eddie Gursky (11 points) to give Jackson-Milton a well-balanced offense. Highlight players for Leetonia include CJ Faulkner who finished with 19 points, followed by Carson Brock and Dylan Johns who each had 15 points on the night.
Jackson-Milton (2-0) will now look ahead to Tuesday, December 5th when they host The Heartland Christian Lions (1-1). Meanwhile, Leetonia (0-2) will look for their first win when they host the always tough conference opponent in The Wellsville Tigers in what will be the season opening game for The Tigers.
Continue following both The Jackson-Milton Blue Jays and The Leetonia Bears this basketball season with live games, scores, stats, stories and more on YSN!
