Jimtown High School

Jimmy Cagers Ready to take the Court By Red Williams Freelance Sportswriter ELKHART – The taste of success was sweet to the tongue for Jimtown High School’s basketball squad. Coming off a 13-11 record last season, the Jimmies are chomping at the bit for a new campaign to start, according to Tyler Leighton, entering his second year as the Jimmies head coach. ”We’re optimistic,” Leighton said Wednesday (11.13.24) during a courtside interview at Jerry Cook Gym. “The kids are confident from last year’s success. This helped them see what we can accomplish.” Leighton has three senior lettermen returning to head up the team: 6-foot-7 Branden King, 6-4 Dylan Fey, last season’s top scorer at a 14.3 clip per game, and Javen Jackson, a 6-foot football speedster, who is slowly getting his basketball legs. King also averaged in double figures at 13.0 and led the team in rebounding with 7.3 per game. Junior letterman Will Spurgeon, also a 6-footer, is back in the fold. Others fighting for a spot on the starting five are Ed Potter, a 6-1 senior, Junior Trasean Baldwin, 6-4 and strong on the interior, and Tucker Sahlhoff, a 6-1 soph. In addition, Leighton has a number of strong players from the freshmen team, which had a 17-4 record a year ago and won a couple of holiday tournaments. Some may get some varsity experience, he said. Notably missing from last year’s team are Bishop Williams (7.6 scoring and 4.9 rebounding averages), Jackson Clopton (7.7) and Justin Price. All graduated. King and Spurgeon were the top three-point shooters last season, both netting at 32 percent. Leighton was pleased with the interest shows in the program: Forty-five showed up for try-outs, and he’d like to have 30-35 to fill up the three squads: Frosh, JV and varsity. “It’s our goal to have strong teams on all three levels,” he said. There have been some physical nicks to worry about, Leighton reported. King has been ill, Jackson is nursing some football pain in the legs, and Baldwin and Spurgeon are nursing some hurts. The Jimmies will be in a new league this season, the Northern Indiana State Conference, and expect some strong competition from Bremen and LaVille. They also still have a number of other strong opponents to face: South Bend St. Joseph, South Bend Washington and Riley, NorthWood, Northridge, Mishawaka Marian and Elkhart. This is not to mention cross town rival Concord, which they will face Jan. 21. The Jimmies have a couple of scrimmages open to the public: Maroon vs. white on Saturday, Nov. 16, at noon, and Central Noble, also at 12 the following Saturday, Nov. 23. They will kick off the regular season with a pair of away games: Nov. 26 at Prairie Heights and Dec. 3 at Career Academy of South Bend, both at 7:30 pm. The home opener will be against conference foe LaVille on Dec. 6, also at 7:30. The schedule follows. All games start at 7: 30 pm unless otherwise indicated. 11.26 at Prairie Heights 12.3 at Career Acad of SB 12.6 vs LaVille [C] 12.12 at New Prairie 12.14 vs John Glenn [C] 12.17 vs NorthWood 12.21 vs Fairfield 1.3.25 at SB Riley 1.7 vs SB St. Joseph 1.10 at Knox [C] 8 pm 1.17 vs Culver Military 1.18 vs South Central 1.21 vs Concord 1.25 at SB Washington 1.28 at Elkhart Christian 1.31 vs Bremen [C] 2.8 at Northridge 12:45 pm 2.11 vs Mish Marian 2.14 at Tippecanoe Valley [C] 2.18 at Bethany Christian 2.22 vs Argos 2.25 vs Elkhart