'We kept attacking': Kyle Monterrubio helps Jackson boys basketball knock off McKinley

CANTON — Jackson boys basketball head coach Tim Debevec could finally breathe a sigh of relief. His Polar Bears (8-3, 4-2) had just held off multiple McKinley rally attempts in a thrilling 80-72 victory at Memorial Field House on Tuesday. It was the first defeat of the season for the Bulldogs (6-3, 5-1) in the Federal League.

"We shot the ball and the big key for us was we kept attacking," Debevec said. "We knew we were going to have to play a full 32 minutes against them. This is a tough place to play and they are a really good team."

The trio of Kyle Monterrubio, Anthony Fuline and Mitchell Finefrock led the way for Jackson. Monterrubio had 26 points, Fuline added 19 points and Finefrock contributed 17 points. The trio combined for eight of Jackson's 10 3-point shots made.

"We just kept attacking, attacking, attacking," Debevec said. "Monterrubio in particular was really aggressive for us tonight. I think our trip to Florida over the winter break paid off for us. We've grown closer as a team and have been playing really well since then."

To say Jackson was hot shooting the ball from 3-point range may be an understatement. The Polar Bears made their first seven 3-point attempts of the night and were 10-of-13 from beyond the arc overall. That was instrumental in helping Jackson build up a lead of as many as 14 points in the first half.

"I think we just came out knowing that we really needed to win this one," Monterrubio said. "We knew that we needed to have a good performance tonight and fortunately we were able to deliver."

Monterrubio, Finefrock and Fuline also helped seal the win in the final minute. Monterrubio and Finefrock combined to go 4-for-4 from the foul line, and Fuline added a 3-pointer in the final 60 seconds to help close out the Bulldogs.

"We did a good job of keeping our composure," Debevec said. "They made some runs at us, but we stepped up and made the free throws and the shots we needed to make when we needed to make them."

Reed Sims Jr. led McKinley with 22 points and eight rebounds. Also in double figures for the Bulldogs were Je'Cis Moody with 18 points and Davey Thompson with 12 points off the bench.

"I think the first half really killed us," McKinley head coach Sean Weatherspoon said. "We were a step slow. We weren't necessarily following our game plan. We knew they could shoot it at a high clip and they took advantage of every opening we gave them early."

The Bulldogs displayed impressive resiliency despite not holding a lead. McKinley cut Jackson's lead to as little as a single point in the third quarter and two points in the fourth quarter.

"I'm proud of the fight we showed," Weatherspoon said. "The kids kept working their way back in the game. They never gave up. We started to follow the game plan better in the second half, but we just couldn't get that one stop we needed to pull ahead."

The game will serve as a reminder to McKinley just how difficult the Federal League schedule can be.

"It's a tough league," Weatherspoon said. "You have to come out ready to play because when you are the leader in the standings, the other teams are going to come out and play hard as heck against you. You have to be ready for that."

The victory by Jackson and Green's win over GlenOak on Tuesday certainly tightened up the Federal League race. Green, GlenOak and Jackson are now just a game back in the standings at 4-2. Hoover also is still in the mix with a 3-3 record in the league.

"It's an exciting time," Monterrubio said. "We knew coming in that this was a game that we needed to play well in if we were going to give ourselves a chance in the Federal League. It's such a tough conference. We know every game we play in the league is going to be a battle."

Reach Cliff at cliff.hickman@cantonrep.com

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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Jackson boys basketball hands first Federal League loss to McKinley