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YORKVILLE – Jason Jakstys understands that it’s go time.
Yorkville, with four returning starters led by its 6-foot-10 Illinois recruit, entered the season with sky-high expectations. Injuries in part contributed to an uneven first month of the season, but the Foxes seemed to find themselves by the end of December.
That belief was affirmed Friday.
Yorkville, on the eve of playing in one of the most high-profile events of the basketball calendar, delivered its best win to date.
Jakstys led three Foxes in double figures with 14 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds, and Yorkville never trailed in beating Southwest Prairie East co-leader Romeoville 57-49 in the SPC crossover.
“Ever since the Jack Tosh tournament at Christmas, we had everybody back for one or two games before that, that’s when we knew midway through the season it’s time to lock in,” Jakstys said. “Our record 100% does not show what type of team we are at full strength.”
Bryce Salek and Jory Boley added 11 points for Yorkville (10-8, 4-4), which scored the first seven points of the game, led 15-3 after a quarter and by as many as 14 in the second half.
“We wanted to come out and make a statement tonight, remind people in the conference how good we are and how good we can be,” Yorkville coach John Holakovsky said. “This is the team that played in the Christmas tournament. Even in our losses, this team played our butts off at York. Came back at Joliet West (a win) and tonight did the same thing.”
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Yorkville was the aggressor from the start, with four Foxes scoring in the first quarter. After Salek’s 3-pointer started things, the next three baskets came on hard drives to the basket.
“We talk about living in the paint, whether it’s driving, cutting, posting up or rebounding,” Holakovsky said. “We have to make our bread and butter in the paint. We need to live in the paint to be a really good team.”
That starts with Jakstys, who had 10 points and six rebounds in the first half as Yorkville led 28-22 at the break. Jakstys picked up three quick fouls in the third quarter and sat for nearly the last five minutes. But he returned in the fourth quarter to score two baskets, one on an impressive drop step and dunk in the post.
“He’s cutting really hard, driving hard, he’s just so bouncy,” Holakovsky said. “He can get off the floor so quickly, even if he misses a shot he can get a rebound and get a quick second-chance basket. He’s a Division I player for a reason. He’s damn good.”
Mickeis Johnson scored 16 points, EJ Mosley 11 and DJ Porter 10 points for Romeoville (14-8, 6-3), which dug itself deficits with huge struggles to start both halves.
The Spartans shot 1 for 10 in the first quarter with four turnovers to trail 15-3 after a quarter. A 10-0 run keyed by Johnson’s eight second quarter points got Romeoville back in it, but the Spartans went over four minutes without a made field goal to start the third quarter while Yorkville built a 14-point lead.
“Young team, still trying to figure it out,” said Romeoville coach Marc Howard, who starts four juniors and a sophomore, with another sophomore first off the bench. “[Yorkville] is an experienced ball club that made a run late last year in the season and you could just see their experience weighing down on us. They jumped out of the blocks strong and their big guy is a ton down there.”
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Mosley, Romeoville’s standout junior guard, didn’t make his first basket until a minute left in the first half and was quiet for much of the night until hitting two 3s in the fourth quarter.
The Spartans dropped to 1-6 during a rough January schedule.
“[Mosley] missed a few shots early but once he got it going that’s when we were able to get going. I thought Mickeis had a great game, brought a lot of energy and helped us get back in the game,” Howard said. “The month of January has been rough on us but a lot of basketball left. We’re heading in the right direction.”
Yorkville, meanwhile, is headed to Benet on Saturday where the Foxes will play Young at 4 p.m. in the third of five games at the When Sides Collide Shootout.
“We just have to go in there with confidence,” Jakstys said. “Yorkville is there for the first time, I’m sure Young has been there before. It will be new to us but we have to go in and play with confidence like we did tonight.”