Chants of “Jackson! Jackson! Jackson!” erupted from the fans in the bleachers.
They also clapped and stomped their feet, whatever they had to do to get the Jackson County Tornadoes fired up as they rallied against Washington County.
On Saturday afternoon in the Seymour High School auxiliary gymnasium, Washington County led 22-11 at halftime of a Special Olympics five-on-five basketball game.
Jackson County, however, scored the first 11 points of the second half to even the score.
The fans’ spirit carried over into the players on the court, as the Tornadoes went on to win the game 30-25 for their first victory of the season.
They wound up outscoring Washington County 19-3 in the second half.
Washington County broke the home team’s scoring streak to take a 24-22 lead, but Jackson County’s Darrell Stevens made a basket and two free throws for a 26-24 advantage. The Tornadoes didn’t relinquish the lead for the last 2:20 of the game.
Stevens led Jackson County (1-2) with 12 points, followed by Josh Beals with nine, A.J. Engel with five and Todd Smith and James Knight with two apiece.
Washington County’s Jonathan Boyd led all scorers with 14 points, including four 3-pointers in the first quarter to hype up the visiting fans. Washington County led 18-3 after one quarter, but Jackson County’s defense held Boyd scoreless the remainder of the game.
Also Saturday at SHS, Jackson County’s three-on-three teams were in action.
The Cyclones men’s team pulled out a close 20-18 victory against the Monroe County Wildcats. Jackson County was led in scoring by Dale Hickman with 18 points, and Donald Bennethum scored the other two.
They improved to 2-3 on the season.
The Hurricanes women’s team had to play against a men’s team, the Monroe County Bobcats. The Hurricanes played tough against taller competition, but they lost 20-16. Averie Brennan led Jackson County with 14 points, and Amanda Hamm had two.
They dropped to 2-2 on the season.
Before the games in the auxiliary gym, the players from Jackson and Washington counties had an opportunity to scrimmage on the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium court at halftime of the varsity boys basketball game between Seymour and Salem. That included three-on-three and five-on-five players from both programs.
On Sunday, Jackson County’s three teams will travel to Batesville High School for the inaugural Hoosier Classic basketball tournament, hosted by Special Olympics Indiana Ripley Ohio Dearborn Counties.
The Hurricanes play at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m., the Cyclones are scheduled to play at 10 and 11 a.m. and the Tornadoes are set to play at 10:30 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.
The public is invited to watch the games.