Marian Catholic’s Ty Jackson finds joy in wreaking havoc.
The 5-foot-11 junior guard/forward is a self-described defensive specialist who naturally racks up steals, blocks or deflections. You name it, she comes up with the tough stuff on the stat sheet.
“I know my team needs defense from me the most,” Jackson said. “Whenever I get that defensive stop, I feel like everyone feeds off my energy.
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“We are a really scary team when we get that one good stop and we just build off of that.”
Jackson was a building block Wednesday night, coming up with 11 points, six rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots in a 34-24 East Suburban Catholic Conference victory over Carmel.
Senior guard Alainna Poisson tallied seven points, four assists and three steals for the host Spartans (5-1, 1-0) in Chicago Heights. Senior forward Taylor Bolton added six points. Sophomore forward Vesta Radziute had five points and three rebounds.
Jackson, the Swiss Army knife who did a bit of everything, opened the game with a 3-pointer. Her two free throws and an offensive putback to start the fourth quarter broke the game open.
“When my perimeter shot is going, it is so much easier then I can just go right away people,” Jackson said. “I was just trying to play to my strengths. I feel like I’m a very humble player.
“My coach always tells me I need to be more selfish.”
Mostly, Jackson obstructed the basket and never gave Carmel’s shooters any clean looks.
The Corsairs scored just two baskets in the second half.
“She can really impact the game defensively,” Marian Catholic coach Dan Murray said of Jackson. “When she moves her feet and doesn’t reach, she is a fantastic defensive player.
“She can shoot it and run the floor. With her versatility, her ability to rebound and run the floor, she has a lot of potential.”
Also, with her length and athleticism, Jackson has the positional flexibility to harass outside shooters and the speed to deny players at the rim.
“She’s really a defensive threat and a scare there,” Poisson said. “She has long arms and is a real menace when she is on the court.
“Offensively, she’s improved a lot. She is a driver, and I know she looks for her teammates more than she looks for herself.”
Curiously, Jackson is a late bloomer who actively resisted playing the sport until she was in sixth grade.
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“I didn’t want to be stereotyped to be playing basketball just because I was tall,” she said. “Compared with everybody else, I was fresh or new to the game.
“I thought I’d give it a try, and I really liked playing it. I worked on my every day, in the summer, early mornings. I’ve always been competitive. I came out of the womb wanting to win.”
When Jackson first started top play, her size typically put her closer to the basket. Her game was too versatile to confine or limit her to just one place.
“When I first started, I played more with my back to the basket,” she said. “I was more of a power forward my freshman year, but I thought I could be more of a threat because a bigger guard is just scary out there.”
After spending her two years as an energy player of the bench, Jackson has seen her minutes on the court expand significantly.
If her game is a work in progress, the raw athleticism, tools and her sharp work ethic give Jackson an exceptionally high ceiling.
”Quite honestly, I still don’t think we’ve seen the best of Ty yet,” Murray said. “There’s still a lot more there. As she gets more comfortable with the extra playing time, we’re going to see more of how she impacts the game.
“We see flashes already.”
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.