Polar Bear senior guard helps break open a tight game with a 17-point fourth quarter
A Federal League girls basketball matchup between Jackson and Perry on Saturday looked like it would be decided in the final minute following a close first three quarters.
Then Jackson High School star Taylor Mikesell took over. The senior guard scored 17 fourth-quarter points and the Polar Bears pulled away to a 54-35 win.
“When you have a player like Taylor Mikesell,” Perry head coach Beth Sternberg said, “she just takes over games. We didn’t really have an answer for her.”
Unable to counter Mikesell, the Panthers saw their hopes of an upset vanish after trailing just 33-31 through three quarters.
Mikesell’s late game surge was rapid, forcing Perry to rush its patient offensive approach in attacking Jackson’s 1-3-1 defense.
“We did a nice job being very patient against it in the first half,” Sternburg said. “When they came back to it, we knew we needed to get a lot of points in a little amount of time, so that didn’t bode well for our game plan.”
Perry’s early success against Jackson’s 1-3-1 was led by Rylee Pireu. Pireu scored 15 points in the first half and forced Jackson to change things up to generate a defensive spark.
Jackson head coach Anthony Butch thought his team lacked a sense of urgency.
“There was no energy,” Butch said, referring to the first quarter. “We went man-to-man to get the energy going and get the girls more active. And then in the fourth, we got the lead and dropped back in the zone. The 1-3-1 is something we do well, and I like it when we have energy in it. And when there’s no energy, it’s not quite as effective.”
Butch knew traveling to Perry meant the Polar Bears (12-3, 5-2) needed that energy in order for a win.
“It was going to be a dogfight,” Butch said. “They’re a very scrappy team. They have some great shooters on the outside and Pireu’s a really nice player. We were preparing to contain her. She really paced Perry out to a nice first half.”
Pireu finished with 19 for the Panthers.
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Jackson's 1-3-1 shut down Perry’s offense, allowing only four points.
“We had to rush a few shots,” Sternberg said about the end of the game. “We turned the ball over a few times, trying to move the ball quickly. We didn’t really have the time to be patient to get what we needed.”
While Mikesell took control of the game in the fourth quarter, Perry’s defense managed to hold her to only seven points in the first half. with a tough man-to-man defense. Yet, Mikesell again proved too dynamic offensively in finishing with 32 points, giving her 1,843 for her career, fifth most in Stark County history.