Staff photo / Brian Yauger Jackson-Milton freshman Amani Yasin breaks past the defense of McDonald’s Juliana Krumpak during the first half of Thursday’s loss to McDonald.

NORTH JACKSON — McDonald got the chance to play Senior Night spoiler on Thursday and ran with it, stifling Jackson-Milton early and holding on to beat the Blue Jays 59-45.

A big part of that came from the Blue Devils’ hot start defensively, holding Jackson-Milton scoreless for the first six minutes of the game and surrendering just four points in the opening frame.

Playing at full strength doesn’t hurt either.

“The first time we played them, we had two of our better kids out, and they rolled us pretty good,” McDonald coach Tony Matisi said. “But getting them back, it lets us do some things now that we can with our skill players. So hopefully it’s going in the right direction.”

With just seven players on the roster, having everyone involved makes a huge difference.

“We have a lot of young kids, numbers are down, but we battle though,” Matisi said. “We’re not the most skilled team, but they give me 100% every night and I can’t kick about that. We’re starting to play better and better. The schedule is a little favorable now, and I think we can do some things.”

McDonald outscored its previous efforts against the Blue Jays in the first half of Thursday’s game, with the team’s 26 first-half points surpassing their 22-point effort the last time around.

Part of that comes from junior Gracie Callow’s 25-point outing and a 20-point effort from sophomore Cierra Shiley.

They’ve still got a long way to go, but Matisi is optimistic about his squad’s growth.

“They’ve got a lot to learn if we’re going to be good,” Matisi said with a laugh.

Before the game, the Blue Jays held a small ceremony for their one senior, Macayle Thornhill.

During the program’s year off from varsity competition, Thornhill served as the glue that kept the program together. As the only remaining player from pre-2022, the senior was naturally the leader for the Blue Jays.

“I wish we could have won for her,” Jackson-Milton coach Jeff Wilson said. “That’s what I told them at halftime. I said, ‘Micayle deserves better.’ She stuck through all this. Last year when we didn’t have a team, we were practicing three girls per skill session two or three days a week, and the other days when the eighth grade was practicing, we practiced with them. … I can’t say enough about her. I told her that someday when we cut down a net, she’s part of it.”

That halftime speech worked, because Jackson-Milton (9-11, 3-8) rallied back and cut the deficit to 12, but it was too late. By that point, the Blue Jays were forced to foul, and McDonald drained their free throws.

While not the result they were after, Wilson is proud of the second-half effort, and is beyond eager to see the progress his team has made.

For a group that consists almost entirely of underclassmen, nine wins with at least three games remaining is a promising start.

“If we had one more quarter, I think we’d have won the game,” Wilson said. “That would have been our 10th win and to be that close to 10 wins with a few games left is such a blessing.”

The Blue Jays look to get that 10th win on the road Saturday when they make the trek to Medina Christian Academy.

McDonald (7-11, 4-8 MVAC) travels to Columbiana County on Monday to take on Heartland Christian.

byauger@tribtoday.com