Jaydon Ross (3) puts up a contested shot for the Vikings. Jackson defeated Northwest 65-47 to win their first district title since 2012. Photos by Bart Hawley, JTV Sports
Trey Richmond | JTV Sports
Friday February 27th, 2026
(2-27-2026, 11:00PM): The Vikings secured a district title for the first time since 2012 over the Mounties on Friday night, in a cross-town rivalry via a second half explosion.
Northwest jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after Dennis Graham hit and assisted on back to back 3pt shots. Berkley Drummond for Jackson responded with a corner 3 of his own to get the Viking on the board. Both the Mounties and the Viking let it fly from deep early on exchanging threes.
The first 2pt field goal was made with only 2:14 left in the 1st quarter by Roe DeDeaux to cut the Viking lead to one, 12-11. Drummond drove into the paint to score, and Jaydon Ross followed his teammate’s bucket up with a turnaround fadeaway to take the 16 to 11 lead after the 1st quarter for J-High.
Jackson’s Tre Pierce sank an elbow three to start scoring from the field in the 2nd quarter, and Kylin Davis, off a Drummond assist, through traffic got a lay-in to fall extending the lead to 9.
Northwest responds with an 8 point run. DeDeaux assisted Graham and Kadin Holmes on back to back corner treys followed by a Graham layup to make it a 1pt game once again; 21 to 20. J-High responded with an 11 to 2 run including 3 triples in sequence, a Drummond chase down block, and a Lorenzo Rogers steal and lay in to end the half with a Vikings lead 32 to 22.
The Mounties created momentum to start the 3rd quarter with Markese Williams hitting an elbow triple, DeDeaux scoring on a fast break, and Bryson Cooper getting to the charity stripe, but Drummond caught fire for the Vikings. Starting with a corner 3 off an assist from Pierce, Drummond and the Vikings went on a tear, fueled by a Jaydon Ross circus block off the backboard. Rogers sunk a midrange floater and Damar Hobbs converted an And-1 opportunity to take an 18 point lead entering the 4th quarter; 50-32.
The inner-city rivals traded free throws and buckets through most of the final period. The district final ended with a score of 65 to 47 for the Vikings that was capped off with a 3 from the wing by Tayvell Graham.
The 18 to 7 run in the 3rd quarter blew the game open and secured the victory for the Vikings and first district title in over a decade with 1st year head coach Phil Thompson.
Jackson will play in the Division 1 Regional Semifinal on Tuesday next week (3/3) vs Kalamazoo Central, the game will be at Kalamazoo Loy Norrix HS.
Photos by Bart Hawley, JTV Sports
