The Massillon Tigers are on a roll. Winners of 8 straight contests and ranked at 7th in the state and 2nd in the division, the Tigers were not to be stopped by the Perry Panthers on Friday evening. They rolled to a 35-18 lead at the half, and despite losing some ground in the 3rd quarter, came home with a solid 72-52 victory.
1st Half
The Panthers won the tip to start the contest. Xavier Williams quickly took the ball away and fired it ahead to Gio Jackson Jr., who passed it back to Williams for the first score of the game. Braylon Gamble was the next to score, taking it all the way after a steal. Perry broke through after a few misses, and soon after tied the game at 4. Williams picked up where he left off in his 34-point performance versus Ursuline as he rattled off 7 straight points for the Tigers– 9 of their first 11. Gamble took it down the lane off a Perry miss to make the score 13-4, and followed it up with 2 more. Marcus Garner picked up an offensive rebound off of a block and put it in for 2. Williams capped off the quarter with 2, making the score 19-8 and giving him 11 points in the contest. Isaiah Lamp and Gio Jackson Jr. started off the second quarter with buckets to give Massillon a 23-10 lead. Williams nailed a 3 to stunt a small Perry run and Gio Jackson Jr. brought down the house in typical fashion with a dunk to put the Tigers up 35-18 at the half.
2nd Half
The Tigers had a bit of a struggle in the third quarter. Perry started it off with a 6-0 run. Jadyce Thigpen drilled a 3 from the right corner to end the streak, but the Panthers continued to eat into the Tigers’ lead. They cut it to 10, a great pass and a layup cut it to 8, and another basket whittled it down to 6. Isaiah Lamp hit a well-timed 3 from the front point, and Terrion Wells hit a free throw to grow the Tigers’ lead back to 10. Gio Jackson Jr. put up 5 with a layup and a 3, but Perry went on another run to keep the lead at single digits (47-38) after 3. Jadyce Thigpen was a name called many times over the PA system in the fourth quarter. He started off quickly, scoring 2 to make it an 11-point game. Thigpen would add a 3-pointer, 2 free throws, and a pair of layups to put the game out of reach. Braylon Gamble picked up a steal-and-score off a full-court press, and Thigpen stole the ball once more. Perry put up a small fight but an Lamp dagger 3 put the lead back at 20. Thigpen added one more layup for good measure and Massillon went back down Lincoln Way with a 72-52 victory.
Box Score:
Jadyce Thigpen, 19 points
Xavier Williams, 16 points
Gio Jackson Jr., 14 points
Isaiah Lamp, 10 points
Braylon Gamble, 10 points
Marcus Garner, 2 points
Terrion Wells, 1 point
Freshmen Roll, JV Wins Another Thriller
The Massillon freshmen rolled from start to finish, defeating Perry 40-18. They have won 4 of their last 5 games after a rough start to the season. The Junior Varsity were locked in a battle once again, but emerged with the win after a last-second 3-pointer by Brayden Smith and a defensive stand at the buzzer. They improved to 9-2 after the 58-55 victory.
WHAT A GAME!