By Michael Bullock
“Yes, Coach, I’ll do whatever it is to win to get to Hershey.”
Those declarative words served as Tim Jackson’s response earlier this week when Allderdice head coach Buddy Valinsky approached the athletic 6-3 senior wing with a defensive schematic designed ostensibly to collar one particular adversary.
And when Reading’s Lonnie Walker wandered on to the floor — surrounded by thousands of screaming fans — the 6-5 junior soon found himself playing tag with Jackson as the all-or-nothing scrap between a pair of Pennsylvania’s hoops heavies played out at Chambersburg High School’s crammed Field House.
Had Walker taken a seat — even for a mere 30 seconds or so — Jackson likely would have squirmed in between several Red Knights and joined him on the bench.
Yet while the determined Jackson carried out his ever-so-important role with remarkable effectiveness, his twin brother, James, was fueling an Allderdice attack that really heated up in the second half when the Dragons’ lethal transition game enabled the Pittsburgh City League champs to break open a tight contest and pull away to a 70-45 victory in a PIAA Class AAAA semifinal-round encounter.
“We just came to play,” James Jackson said.