Carrolls lead Blue Jays to victory in season opener

Shea Carroll went to the line for a couple of free throws Tuesday night and, much to his chagrin, only one went through the hoop.

"I definitely need to get into shape," Carroll said. "I was gasping a little bit there."

Carroll's twin brother Brooks, rolled his eyes and replied: "Yeah, that's why you air-balled that free-throw."

The Carroll brothers helped lead the No. 1-ranked Jamestown High School basketball team to an 84-75 win over the Sabers in their season opener Tuesday night at Jerry Meyer Arena.

"We've been playing together for a good 14 years now," Brooks said of himself and his twin brother. "This is my best friend right here and it's pretty great to go out there and play with him."

It didn’t take Brooks long to get started as the 6-foot-3 senior knocked down a shot from behind the arc to give the Jays an early 5-2 lead. Brooks started for fourth-year JHS head coach Jacoby Lloyd as a junior, helping lead the Jays to a 21-4 season and to the team’s second consecutive state tournament.

"I've never met someone that can shoot as well as him," Shea said of Brooks. "I always hope to find him on the court."

The Carroll boys helped Lloyd and the Jays past Devils Lake in the opening round of the 2020 state tournament, beating the Firebirds 71-54. The Blue Jays were well-positioned to make another run at the Class A state title before the coronavirus pandemic canceled the rest of the state tournament.

In Tuesday’s home opener the duo played the full 32 minutes, during which time they combined for 18 points. The Jays took control of the game early putting up a 10-2 run fueled by Brooks and Keith Levin, who at 6-foot-7 nabbed a few key rebounds at the hoop. Levin put up 12 points for the Jays.

“With Brooks and Shea and Carson Lamp, you know you are going to get consistent play every day," said Lloyd. "You are going to get a hardnose mentality and they are going to play basketball the right way."

With less than 30 seconds in the first half, Lamp fought through a mess of Legacy arms to find the basket to put his team up 35-30. As the clock ticked down to just a few seconds to play, Brooks had one final shot to extend his team’s lead. The senior was unable to bury the bullet he launched from half-court.

Lamp ended up as the Jays' top scorer with 26 points to start off his senior year. The 6-foot guard drained four shots from behind the arc and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the line.

"We feel really good because we don't think we have just one leader," Brooks said. "We have 10 seniors this year and everyone just collectively steps up for the team. We play really hard for each other."

All 35 first-half points were a team effort but the Sabers also fought hard as a team.

The Sabers came out with a different energy to start the second, dribbling past Blue Jay defenders and banking off missed passes by the Blue Jays. The Sabers made a 5-0 run to put the visitors up 42-41 before Levin made good on a couple of foul shots to regain the lead 43-42.

The Carrolls got some help in the second with Ty Monson and Adam Kallenbach draining a couple of 3s to keep the Jays ahead by at least three points.

"We as a team are really good at feeding off each other's energy," Brooks said. "It doesn't matter if you miss one 3, we all know each other can shoot and we all trust each other."

Brooks showed off his own shooting ability with just 1:02 left in the game. The senior drained a 3 to put the Jays up 78-71. A mere 17 seconds later, Brooks had the ball in his hands again and made it a 10-point game.

Carroll ended the game with the split pair of free throws

"He's never gonna let me live it down but we all trust each other," Carroll said. "That's why we are going to be a really good team this year."

(1) Jamestown 84, Legacy 75

LEG 30 45 -- 75

JHS 35 49 -- 84

LEG --Nick Kupfer 25, Sam Link 13, Joey Buzalsky 10, Ben Patton 7, Zander Albers 7, Keagen Woodbury 5, Logan Wetzel 4, Brady Burman 3, Lyric Hoffman 1. Totals: 28 FG, 15-20 FT, 21 fouls. 3-pointers: Woodbury, Burman, Patton, Link.

JHS -- Carson Lamp 26, Brooks Carroll 14, Keith Levin 12, Ty Monson 10, Luke Van Berkom 7, Devin Beach 6, Shea Carroll 4, Adam Kallenbach 3, Kade Schumacher 2. Totals: 28 FG, 16-22 FT, 19 fouls. 3-pointers: B. Carroll 4, Lamp 4, Kallenbach 1, Beach 1, Monson 1, Van Berkom 1.

Records: Jamestown 1-0, 1-0 West Region. Legacy 0-1, 0-1 West Region.