Boys basketball: Jason Jakstys powers surging Yorkville past St. Ignatius into Tosh second round

ELMHURST – Yorkville senior center Jason Jakstys met his match on Tuesday afternoon.

At 6-foot-10 with long arms, Jakstys is usually the tallest player on the court.

Against St. Ignatius, the Illinois recruit, though, wasn’t the biggest player on the court.

That distinction belonged to St. Ignatius senior Justin Scott.

[ Photos: Yorkville vs. St. Ignatius ]

The 6-4, 310-pounder is an elite football player, a five-star recruit who signed with Miami last week after originally committing to Ohio State. With tree trunk-sized legs and agile feet, Scott is an imposing player.

Just ask Jakstys.

“I remember coach telling me I have to guard a five-star lineman, so I was like ‘OK’,” Jakstys said. “He’s not the guy I normally want to go up against, but he’s a really good dude and very strong. It was a good matchup. I’m thinking I have to get into the weight room.”

Jakstys relied on his basketball skills – and he has an abundance of them – to put his own powerful stamp on the game, finishing with 14 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, five blocks and two steals to lead Yorkville to an impressive 48-38 win in the first round of the 49th Annual Jack Tosh Holiday Classic.

The Foxes (4-5) have won three games in a row, advancing to play Lyons on at 5 p.m. Wednesday Yorkville fell into an early 5-0 hole but gained command of the game thanks to the all-around effort by Jakstys to go with 11 points from Bryce Salek, and seven points and five boards from Kaevian Johnson. Jory Boley added six points and six boards and Mike Dunn tallied six points.

“It was a huge win, and we really needed it and we have won three games in a row,” Jakstys said. “We have a lot of momentum behind us. We played good defense and in the end, we got our confidence and slowed it down. It was huge for our team. We really showed we can do whatever it takes to win this tournament.”

The basketball game had a distinct Illini feel due to the presence of Jakstys and St. Ignatius junior guard Phoenix Gill, who has an offer from Illinois. Gill, the son of Illini legend and former NBA star guard Kendall Gill, scored 10 points. Teammate Reggie Ray had a game-high 16 points and Scott was held scoreless but had three boards.

“It was really nice to see a lot of people in the stands wearing orange and blue, and also playing against Phoenix,” Jakstys said. “That’s always fun to play against him. He’s a really good guard and sees the floor really nice and can shoot it and drive really nice. I really like his game. He has a lot of chemistry with his team.”

The Foxes relied on their depth and athleticism to pull away after a shaky start. Jakstys had a powerful dunk early in the second quarter and Salek followed with a lay-in to give the Foxes a 19-13 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the game. Boley scored on a nifty drive and Johnson added a three—point play to push the lead to 35-17.

“We were down and used a timeout and switched it up with the 1-3-1, but our main focus was to get in the paint as much as possible,” Yorkville coach John Holakovsky. “We’ve done a great job of getting the ball to Jason recently, which opens things up. That’s been great for us. We knew (Justin Scott) was going to be physical with Jason and try and push him off his spot.

“We were trying to figure out where the doubles were coming and who was open. Jason has great vision with his height and length. He’s a smart player. He knows if he’s open, he can score. If not, he can throw it to somebody else. He did a great job for us, but everybody did a great job for us tonight.”