JEFFERSONVILLE ' S MICHAEL COOPER
DRIVES TO THE BASKET IN THE CLASS
4A STATE FINAL. gave them their biggest lead of the game, 45-36 with just under two minutes left in the quarter. Fishers, however, ripped off a quick 6-0 spurt and closed within 45-42 heading into the fourth.
After six straight points from Singleton, Jeff seemed to be in command, up 54-47 with 4:45 to play. Then, the Tigers roared and showed the heart of a champion. Sophomore standout Jason Gardner Jr. scored seven of his teamhigh 15 points to fuel a 13-4 spurt that gave Fishers its first second-half lead( at 60-58) with just over a minute to go in regulation.
Cooper then quickly got to the rim for a layin on the next Red Devils’ possession to tie the game. After a Fishers missed shot, Jeff had the ball with four seconds on the clock. A long pass to Singleton, and a few dribbles later, he let go of a 15-footer that rattled around the rim and bounced out. With that, the game headed to overtime— the first in a 4A final since 2015.
“ At halftime we thought we were playing decent, but we were still messing up a lot of things,” said senior forward P. J. Douglas, who finished with eight points and four rebounds.“ We cleaned up some things and pushed the lead higher in the second half, but Fishers kept coming at us. There in the fourth, and overtime, we just trusted in ourselves and the work we’ ve put in. We’ ve been through the fire. We stuck together and pulled it out.”
Boyd agreed with his long-time teammate.
“ We just stayed together and kept fighting. We learned from last year and used that to win it this year,” said Boyd, whose team lost 52-51 to Ben Davis in last season’ s New Castle Semistate final.
“ It’ s just amazing.”
For Wilkerson, March 29 was more than just winning a game or even a championship. It was about him coming full-circle from the talented teenager who fought battles on and off the court, to becoming just the sixth person in Indiana high school hoops history to be a state champion as a player and a coach.
“ As a young man, I had some hurdles to get over,” he said.“ To be able to come back in this fashion is divine intervention. It was God’ s plan and I was just the vessel. I will happily continue to say that. As I look up there in that sea of red, for what this means to Jeffersonville, I’ m just trying to digest it all. At the end of the day, our guys earned this. And it’ s something everyone that calls themselves a Jeff Red Devil should be very proud of.”
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