Boys Basketball notes: Yorkville’s Jason Jakstys finds ‘lightbulb moment’ with brilliant stretch of basketball

Jason Jakstys can trace the origin of a brilliant stretch of basketball to one of Yorkville’s least bright moments.

It’s appeared to shine more light on him as a college prospect.

The 6-foot-9 Yorkville junior scored 24 points on Dec. 16 in the Foxes’ loss to Oswego that preceded a nine-day break.

Jakstys carried that strong play right out of the holidays.

He averaged 13.8 points and 9 rebounds, and shot 56% from the floor in leading the Foxes (13-3) to a 3-1 record at the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic. Jakstys was named to the all-tournament team.

“It was that lightbulb moment for him. He’s been great,” Yorkville coach John Holakovsky said. “All four games at the Tosh he was really good and it really started with that Oswego game that we lost. I hated to lose that conference game but it was the best I’ve seen Jason play.”

Jakstys has always had all the talent in the world, but Holakovsky said his motor and extra effort of late has been noteworthy.

“The last few weeks he’s realizing the impact he can have on a game,” Holakovsky said. “He’s crashing the glass, going for loose balls, making extra effort on dunks, really setting the tone for us as a leader. In the past he has kind of let the game come to him. The last few weeks he’s kind of taken control of games, and it’s great to see.”

“Ever since that Oswego game I feel like I’ve been attacking the basket more,” Jakstys said. “After that game coach came up to me in practice and said Jason, I need that from you every game. I’ve kind of started to do that now every time I’ve touched the ball.”

The Foxes finished the Tosh in fine fashion last Thursday, as Jakstys scored 13 points and eight rebounds in a 64-42 win over Naperville North.

“Naperville North was probably the best offensive game I’ve seen us play,” Holakovsky said. “Our 17 assists was the most we’ve had, we dominated the glass, took good shots. Naperville North is good. I just thought we played that good. It was competitive for a game and then we took control and ran away with it. It was impressive considering how good they are.”

Jakstys, taking another step in his game, has seen recruiting interest pick up.

A number of schools have reached out lately including Illinois, Richmond, North Dakota State, Indiana State, Wright State and many more. He has an unofficial visit to Champaign scheduled for a game.

Jakstys and the Foxes continued their strong play on Tuesday with a 69-51 win over Plainfield East. Jakstys was one of four Yorkville players to score in double figures with 13 points.

“We just have to take it one game at a time,” he said. “We should be looking forward to the playoffs but we have to just think about our next game, and the game after that.”

Sandwich’s strong finish at Classic

Sandwich, building off an eye-opening first month of the season, had a stellar finish at the 59th Plano Christmas Classic last week.

After dropping their opener by three points to Yorkville Christian, the Indians (11-6) won their next three games to win the consolation bracket championship. Sandwich, true to its defensive identity, held its last three opponents to fewer than 50 points, and brought home a trophy from the Classic for the first time since 1994.

“To be honest that was probably the best basketball that we have played,” Sandwich coach Kevin Kozan said. “We could have hung our heads after that first game but we guarded. That is our identity. Bringing home a trophy is huge for our morale, huge for the kids, huge for our program.”

Evan Gottlieb led the way, averaging 12.7 points per game, with strong contributions from Austin Marks and Owen Sheley.

“Evan had a heck of a tournament leading us and making the right decisions. He didn’t make the all-tournament team but I thought he should have,” Kozan said. “Austin played really well and I thought that was Owen’s best week of his basketball life.”

A busy, and challenging week is ahead. Sandwich plays at Princeton, currently ranked No. 2 in the latest Class 2A statewide poll, next Tuesday and hosts Interstate 8 Conference leader Kaneland next Friday. Sandwich led Kaneland up until the last four minutes of the teams’ first meeting.

“We’re excited for it,” Kozan said. “I am watching film, that Princeton game maybe we could turn some heads. I feel like we have already turned some heads with the start that we have had. We have a tough five games ahead of us the next couple weeks.”