There was no love shown on Tuesday in Jackson's 80-52 Valentine's Day win over the then undefeated Wooster. The matchup once again drew a sold out crowd as the Jackson faithfuls poured in to watch the contest between two of the top three teams in the latest AP poll. Wooster, previously unbeaten, suffered their first loss of the season. 

At First:

Wooster guard Trever Smith stepped into a deep three and forced Coach Debevec and Jackson to burn his first timeout midway through the quarter. The triple from Smith was one of the four he was able to connect on in the first period. 

The uptempo style of play that Wooster has been accustomed to playing this season was matched by a hot shooting start from Jackson, led by Kyle Nicolas and a pair of pull-up jumpers by junior Ethan Stanislawski. 

Turning Point:

Junior Calvin Blair picked up his second foul midway through the game's opening quarter and losing the 6'3 physical wing caused a riff for Wooster on the defensive end. 

Jackson's Logan Hill and Jaret Pallotta connected on a series of close range baskets to close out the quarter, including a pair of slashing finishes by Pallotta to put the Polar Bears up 28-19 after eight minutes of play.

Wooster would go on to score just 8 points in the second quarter as senior Peyton Bennington converted a few offensive rebounds into layups over the much bigger Jackson frontline, but the second quarter ended similar to the first.

Kyle Young  was able to get wherever he wanted to in the lane and both he and Pallotta were able to stretch the lead out to 19 heading into the break.

An early three by Blair trimmed the Wooster deficit to 16 but they wouldn't get any closer as Jackson limited them to one shot on the offensive end and attacked the rim on the other side of the ball.  

Standouts:

Young, a Butler commit, poured in what was perhaps his most efficient performance of the season en route to a game-high 27 points and 19 rebounds. The 6'7 stretch forward did the majority of his work within five feet of the rim and took advantage of Wooster's lack of size. Young finished a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line and was effective in using quick baseline moves on the block to get a step on the defender.

Wooster was led offensively by senior Trever Smith. It was Smith's hot start that gave his team their only lead of the ball game. Smith, a score-first guard with the ability to get hot, saw both the play of himself and the team lose steam over the course of the game. 

Takeaways:

The Division One is the toughest district in Northeast Ohio bar none and both Wooster and Jackson are among those in the loaded field. On opposite sides of the bracket, the two would have to meet again in the District Final and go through the likes of North Canton Hoover, Copley, and Canton McKinley.

Up Next:

Jackson (18-1) - Friday vs. St. Vincent-St. Mary

Wooster (19-1) - Friday vs. Ashland