Following Jackson’s lead, Academy Park tops Interboro

SHARON HILL — Gabby Jackson’s soft-spoken personality can be deceiving.

On the basketball court, Jackson plays with aggression and all-out hustle 100 percent of the time.

Academy Park’s junior guard and floor general has been the Knights’ rock this season. Someone had to assume the role following the graduation of All-Delco guard Mahya Woodton, who is playing at Millersville. It’s been a rocky road, but the Knights are beginning to figure things out.

A big reason for that is Jackson’s steady hand.

“We just try to succeed to our full talent and work together as a team,” Jackson said. “We were so used to playing with Mahya and having one dominant player. Now we have to find our strengths and make sure we are depending on each other.”

Jackson led the way for the Knights in Thursday’s 61-47 victory over Del Val League foe Interboro. She poured in a game-high 22 points on 9-for-16 shooting, dished five assists and made five steals.

“She had a really good summer with me, working out in the gym,” Academy Park coach Ron Bright said. “She kind of reminded me of Mahya, the way she was always in the gym. She had a pretty good offseason and hopefully she will continue that this offseason and be ready for next season. She’s put in a lot of work.”

Jackson and her good friend, Lashay Jackson (no relation), put on a show in the second quarter. Lashay hopped off the bench to get six steals, three rebounds and two assists … all in an eight-minute span.

“That’s why I bring her in. She’s our energy,” Bright said of Lashay, who finished with four points, seven steals and three assists. “In a real world, the style we like to play, she would start. It’s just that when she comes in it changes our whole game plan and we can match up all over the floor. We can play full-court pressure and make things happen.”

The Knights (8-8, 4-1) were in control from the opening tip against the Bucs (2-14, 0-5). In the first quarter, Gabby Jackson had seven of her points as the Knights raced out to a 16-5 advantage on 7-for-19 shooting. AP forced Interboro to turn the ball over six times. The Knights’ ability to run the floor, hit open shots and apply man-to-man pressure stymied the Bucs, who committed 15 first-half turnovers.

“Especially with me and ‘Shay, we know what we can do in certain situations and we know that we can depend on each other,” Gabby said.

Taylor Smith and Taylor Flores, the Knights’ top shooting threats, made their presence felt. Smith tallied 11 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and two assists. Flores chipped in 10 points and two steals. Power forwards Kiasa Cunningham and Anissa Fleming combined for five points, 23 rebounds and two blocked shots.

“We’re coming along,” Bright said. “The whole season has been up-and-down as you can tell with our 8-8 record. It’s hard to get some consistency, but overall I think we’re getting better.”

First-year Interboro coach Ty Taylor is preaching consistent effort above anything else. He was proud to see his players battle for all four quarters and not give up after the Knights led by as many as 22 points.

Guard Madison Diehl drilled three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with team-highs in points (15), assists (five) and steals (nine). Riley Szatny, the Bucs’ starting center, added 11 points eight rebounds.

“At this point it’s just getting them to understand how hard you have to play and the wins will come,” Taylor said. “They’re just now starting to understand the system that we’re running, and they’re starting to see things on the floor. … But right now it’s about effort and that was probably one of the most complete games we’ve played all season, besides Penn Wood last week, when the effort was there from start to finish.”

In another Del Val game:

Chester 26, Chichester 16 >> Good thing Monique Colbert was around to grab all the missed shots. The forward had 40 rebounds and 12 points to lead the Clippers (4-7, 3-2). Shay’moni DeShields scored 12 points and Quanshana Hagwood chipped in with 13 rebounds and six blocks.

In the Catholic League:

Cardinal O’Hara 69, Bishop McDevitt 29 >> Sydni Scott finished with a game-high 16 points as the Lions (9-8) got back above the .500 mark. Amaris Baker added 10 points and Stephanie Huseby contributed eight.

Archbishop Carroll 57, Hallahan 24 >> The Patriots rushed out to a 20-1 lead in the first quarter and received scoring contributions from 11 players.

Hope Syron showed the way with 13 points and Nikki Mostardi finished with 11. Erin Sweeney had nine points.

In nonleague action:

Penn Wood 64, Prep Charter 30 >> The Patriots began the game on a 22-0 run and never looked back.

Awa Dicko led a balanced offense with 10 points, six steals and four assists. Jada Hutt totaled 10 points and two blocks, while Angelee Jarrett came off the bench to score 10 points. Mya Williams contributed eight points in the win for the Patriots, who got 32 points from their reserve players.

Sacred Heart 43, Barrack Hebrew 15 >> Kyra Quigley scored 12 points and Jaycee Webster tossed in 10 for the Lions, who led 21-2 at halftime.

In the Ches-Mont League:

Oxford 40, Sun Valley 32 >> The Vanguards ‘Abby Seasock led all players with 17 points.