Article and Photo courtesy of Ryan Silapan of The Panola Watchman
CARTHAGE — After back-to-back losses the previous two games, the Panola College men's basketball team wanted to do two things against visiting Tyler in their regular season finale:
Head into the Region XIV Conference Tournament with some momentum and send sophomores Isaac Jackson, Olaverr Camacho and Esteban Roacho out on a high note.
The Ponies accomplished both.
Jackson scored a game-high 29 points to lead the way as Panola defeated Tyler 77-62 Wednesday at Arthur Johnson Gymnasium.
"I was pleased that they are ready to finish this strong," Panola Coach Aaron Smith said. "I think our two practices translated to the game tonight and we played with pop and were aggressive. I was very pleased with them."
Jackson hit 5 of his 8 3-point attempts and added a pair of steals for the Ponies, who were coming off their biggest defeat of the season — 83-54 to No. 4-ranked Kilgore last Saturday — as well as a 55-53 loss to Navarro.
Elsewhere, Panola showed they wanted it that much more than Tyler by crashing the boards. Facing the bigger and stronger Apaches, the Ponies out-rebounded Tyler a combined 43-15, including 12-4 on the offensive glass.
"They are huge, that's a Big 10 team, so for us to rebound well and get stops was really, really important," Smith said. "I was proud of them. Isaac Jackson had 29 tonight, Olaverr Camacho was fantastic tonight, and Esteban Roacho, those three guys have done nothing but work since they got here. They really represented themselves, their families and Panola College with excellence."
Troy Hupstead and Rodney Johnson Jr. both scored 10 points, with Hupstead having a double-double with 11 rebounds and adding three assists, and Johnson Jr. having five boards.
Roacho scored nine points, Camacho scored six with seven rebounds, and point guard Jacobi Lewis dished out eight assists and finished with eight rebounds.
"After the last two losses, it motivated us to come out tonight in our last home game and leave it all out on the court," Camacho said. "I think we did a pretty good job, we gave it our all and played together."
The Ponies led nearly the entire first half and went into halftime leading the Apaches 35-29.
Panola (21-9 overall, 12-7 Region XIV) didn't let up or have a letdown in the second half as the Apaches never got within their initial six-point deficit in the second half.
"We needed this win, so we put 40 minutes of great basketball together," Johnson Jr. said. "We all put forth that effort in the last home game of the season."
Tyler (14-14, 9-9) was led by Jestin Porter, who scored 14 points and had a team-high four assists, and Corey Camper Jr., who scored 13 points. Taevon Anderson and Parker Grant both scored 10, with Grant adding a team-high four steals.
Wednesday's contest was a lot different than when these two met up back on Jan. 29 at Tyler.
In that game — Panola won 74-73 — the Apaches only had five active players, and this game they had nine and the Ponies were better across the board.
"We had a challenge at hand and rose to the occasion," Lewis said. "We kept the ball high against their zone, making them move and shifting the defense."
The Ponies will now wait and see what their Region XIV Tournament fate will bring them. Regardless of where they are seeded, Panola will be going into the tournament feeling good about themselves after finishing the regular season with an impressive victory.
"This is a big confidence booster going into the (XIV Conference Tournament)," Lewis said. "We have to keep our heads down, not get too excited and know its one game at a time."