MINERAL RIDGE — One quarter can make a huge difference in a basketball game.

The Jackson-Milton Blue Jays played it tight with Mineral Ridge for the majority of the contest, but the Rams pulled away in a decisive third quarter and came away with a 65-48 victory.

“They changed the whole entire game in that third quarter,” Blue Jays coach Stephen Procopio said. “Credit to Mineral Ridge. They took us out of our game. They’re a good basketball team. They sped us up, and they caught fire. We couldn’t turn the pace back our way. It turned into a running game, and that’s not our game right now.”

The Blue Jays set the pace they wanted in the first half. Jackson-Milton’s Mason Robison hit a pair of 3s in the first quarter, but the Rams spread the ball around and led 18-15 at the end of one. Blue Jays point guard Cole Grope nailed one from downtown to begin the second, but his counterpart Austin Governor answered with a trey and followed with a lay-up.

Then, the game was stopped for several minutes when Mineral Ridge senior Koby Zupko suffered a hip injury and had to be taken to the hospital. He was placed on a stretcher and every member from each team went over and showed their support.

“He was driving down the middle of the lane,” Rams coach Gary Pugh said. “He felt something pop in his hip. I told him to stay down. He’s had some hip issues before, but I’ve never seen anything like this. I hope he’s all right.”

Zupko received some well wishes from Procopio as well.

“From the whole Jackson-Milton basketball program we hope Koby Zupko is OK,” Procopio said. “If he is hurt, we hope he has a speedy recovery.”

Once the game resumed, Robison and A.J. Bouch connected down low for scores. The Blue Jays outscored Mineral Ridge 9-7 in the second, and trailed 25-24 at halftime. Robison led Jackson-Milton with 15 points.

Jalen Royal-Eiland and Governor started the third with back-to-back buckets and the Rams were off and running. Mineral Ridge had good ball movement and buried one from the corner to take a 38-28 advantage. Jackson-Milton called timeout, but the Rams were on fire. Maurice Clark drilled one from long distance. Grope found Frankie Prozy at the buzzer, but the Rams built a commanding 48-34 lead heading to the fourth.

“The third quarter was the key for us,” Pugh said. “We started making some open shots. Miles (Culp) started making some buckets going to the hoop. We made a couple threes. It opened everything up for us. We had a screen and roll with Jalen that was really working out nice too. Good team effort. Good defense. I’m happy.”

Junior Miles Culp led the Rams with a game-high 20 points.

“We worked hard,” Culp said. “The second half, I knew we had to do something. We had to pick up our pace. We had help-side defense in the second half. That really helped. We played together as a team, and finished strong. Koby is my boy. I hope he gets better soon. He’s a leader. We need him.”

Bouch completed an and-one, and Gavin Sahli had a lay-in for Jackson-Milton but the game was out of reach late in the fourth. The Blue Jays played a physical final period, but couldn’t overcome the 23-10 third quarter by the Rams.