SAPPINGTON • Coming off a big win recently over rival East St. Louis, O'Fallon appeared to be playing its best basketball of the season entering the Lindbergh Tournament.
"We came into the tourney with a lot of confidence," O'Fallon forward Michael Jackson said.
It showed in the first quarter of the championship game Saturday afternoon at Lindbergh, when O'Fallon's hot shooting was a critical factor in the Panthers' 58-52 victory.
"It was never comfortable," said O'Fallon coach Rick Gibson, whose team raced to a 17-4 lead after one quarter. "We played really well in the first, and really, that ended up being the game."
Jackson, a 6-foot-5, silky-smooth senior, and Roy Bullock III, each finished with 19 points as the Panthers, the No. 9 team in the STLhighschoolsports.com large-schools rankings, improved to 15-4. Summit fell to 11-5.
O'Fallon never trailed, but the Falcons stayed within striking distance most of the game. Summit, which got a team-high 22 points from Jory Woodson, trailed 17-14 midway through the second quarter.
But every time the Falcons closed in, Jackson, Bullock or Elijah Kinmon, who finished with 11 points, answered.
"We got a lead and kind of let up a bit," Gibson said. "Michael and Roy were solid in all three of their tournament games. Michael is a high-energy kid who plays so hard. He's a little undersized inside, but he rebounds well and is really explosive."
Jackson, who came in averaging 14.9 points, was confident the second-seeded Panthers would finish the job.
"We were a little sloppy at times, in the second and third quarters," he said "We played hard, though. We didn't have much doubt we would get it done."
O'Fallon led 29-22 at the break and 41-29 heading to the fourth quarter. No. 4 seed Summit had the ball and trailed 48-43 with just over two minutes to play, but Bullock made a key steal and fed Jackson for a layup to end the Falcons' comeback hopes.
Summit coach Dave Schroll lamented his club's slow start.
"It's kind of frustrating," he said. "You can't go down 17-4 against a team like that, and expect to win that game. They are really good. We've got some things to learn. But we didn't quit. We have to learn to not take possessions off.
"We thought we could get some things done against their guards, and we did," Schroll said. "I think they turned the ball over more than they wanted to. Down the stretch, they didn't handle it very well, and we got a couple steals and that's what got us back in the game."
Woodson, who ended up seven for 18 from the field, did his best to keep the Falcons in the hunt.
"He showed how good he can be in this tournament," Schroll said of the 6-foot junior guard. "He can play with anybody."
In other tournament games on Saturday:
HILLCREST 77, JEFFERSON CITY 57 • In the third-place contest, Hillcrest got 33 points from guard Roy Hardy to easily get past the Jays. Jefferson City was led by Harold Robertson, who finished with 17 points.
LINDBERGH 48, JACKSON 32 • The Flyers (11-6) had little trouble with the Indians in the fifth-place game thanks in part to 19 points from guard Joe Killian. Lindbergh's top scorer, Blake Welch (13 ppg), missed the game with a high ankle sprain.
Jackson was led by 6-foot-9 John Meyer, who had 13 points.
MILLER CAREER 59, JACKSON JV 38 • In the seventh-place game, the Phoenix got a game-high 15 points from Malik Brown.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM • Five players from the title game were selected to the all-tournament team. The honors team included: O'Fallon's Bullock, Jackson and Kinmon, Summit's Woodson and James Crocker, Hillcrest's Hardy, Jefferson City's Scott Stegman, Lindbergh's Killian, Miller Career's Brown and Jackson's Meyer.
