NYSPHSAA BOYS' BASKETBALL: CASEY THE ENGINE THAT RUNS THE HAWKS OFFENSE (March 12, 2022)

By Brian Fees
Southern Tier Sports Report
If you go strictly by the box score you’d never realize that Jackson Casey is one of the best players in Section 4.

In the sectional final against Elmira the Hawks junior had seven points, but he was the driving force behind Corning winning the sectional title. The Hawks now play Mt. Vernon in the regional final at 1:45 today at Visions Memorial Arena in Binghamton.

“If you are a stat watcher you are missing the boat,” Corning coach Mike Johnston Jr. said. “Because, it’s all the little things he does and the confidence he gives our players. He finds the open man almost to a fault. We know he can go out and put 20 plus points up any given night. You look at the box score and you miss the fact he had eight assists and seven rebounds and he drew three charges. He does all the intangibles and all the little things people don’t notice.”

He isn’t among the scoring leaders in Section 4, but there might not be a player who impacts the game more than the Hawks guard.

“I always say, I love an assist just as much as I love to score,” Jackson said. “I love to get our scorers the ball in positions they can score.

“I think I kind of run the offense and once I start hitting my shots other guys will get confidence and they will hit their shots to.”

The thing that Johnston loves about his point guard is that he is smart with the ball in his hands and he plays the game the right way.

“The thing with Jackson is, he’s a high IQ guy,” Johnston said. “He does a great job directing our offense and when we need him to be offensive minded as well he can score. He does a great job handling pressure. I always go back to an old adage that might which school coach, who happened to be my father, used to say. ‘Don’t be fancy, just be good.’ Sometimes we don’t have to trick ourselves as doing guards, being familiar with the position I try and continue to ooze confidence in Jackson.

“I want him to be more offensive minded, he understands. .I don’t have to say a lot to him, it’s pretty neat you see a kid that’s come since eighth grade and he’s made himself into one of the better players in this particular area because of his work ethic. He loves the game, he plays year round.”

For Casey it’s fun getting everyone else involved.

“I love it, I love being able to get people the ball,” Casey said. “As soon as I touch the ball, as soon as I pick my head up I see it (who is open).”

While Casey runs the Corning offense, he’s also one of the best shooters in the section. He’s capable of putting up 20 plus on any given day. If teams key on others, like leading scorer Isaiah Henderson, then Casey will start shooting more. If people key on Casey, he’ll find his open teammates.

“If they try and double Isaiah and defend him I can shoot,” Casey said. “But, if they try and do that to me, Isaiah is obviously the top scorer in the area to.”

Casey loves to play up-tempo and when he does he knows that his stamina helps and it’s always fun for him to watch his opponents tire out.

“I love to play fast and we can all run,” Casey said. “We can get out and run and we get a lot of points in transition.

“It’s really fun because as much as I take pride in passing I take pride in my stamina and how I can go the whole game without a sub.”

Casey isn’t the biggest player on the court, but he takes pride in being able to get to the basket and score against against the big guys on opposing teams.

“I definitely work really hard because obviously I don’t have size and height, so I use work and grit,” Casey said. “I definitely think it catches them off guard, and they don’t expect it (when Casey scores against the big guys). As soon as they key on me I can hit Isaiah, I can hit Aidan (Chamberlin), I can hit Landen (Burch) and I can hit Nesu (Maphosa).

“I’m really excited because I’ve never been the biggest guy on the court, it’s nothing new and we just have to stay focused and work together.”

One of the things that helps make Casey a better guard is having teammates that he’s worked with forever.

“The years we played together we were young and there as a learning curve, but we got to the other side and now we are trying to get to the Final 4,” Casey said.

Having a player like Henderson, who scored 27 in the sectional final, develop into a big-time scorer this year has made Casey’s job that much easier.

“It’s definitely gotten me a lot of assists, so I appreciate that,” Casey said.

Late in the regular season the Hawks lost their only game of the regular season to Elmira. Casey knew he didn’t play like himself in that game and vowed to get better.

That’s the type of floor general that Casey is. He brings the energy every game and if he is self aware enough to know when he’s not at his best.

“When I went into the locker room I didn’t have to say anything to my kids,” Johnston said. “They knew. Jackson spoke up first and he said I’ll never play like that ever again, you can count on that coach. You don’t have to say anything when oh’ve got guys like that.

“They study the game and it’s like they have been one ilm all week long. They know what they are up against. They know Mount Vernon is held in high regard in New York State and they have won a lot of games. They have really good athletes. They have length. But, there is not a fear factor with our kids, they are competitors.”

The Hawks are excited to face a team that has won 13 state titles in their program’s history.

“At this point it’s win or go home, we just have to go out there and do what we have to do,” Jackson said. “Push each other, support each other and hopefully we get the win.

“We are just excited to showcase what we have been doing all year to new people. We have always kind of been the underdog, this year we had a good record, so we had the X on our back, but it’s not like we aren’t used to being the underdog.”

Johnson knows that his team will play hard in regionals.

“The beauty of these kids, the culture that has been created, not only in this district, but in the programs I have been fortunate enough to coach, I believe culture eats strategy for breakfast and I believe our kids believe in ourselves,” Johnston said. “They are winners. They have proven they know how to win, we are not showing up to lose. Our kids are going to go there and compete as hard as they can and I know we are going to get a great effort on Sunday.”

While Mt. Vernon’s program has a history of success at states, with Covid no one played at states the past couple of years, so everyone on both rosters is kind of in the same boat.

“For them as well, they didn’t get to play in the Covid year, they had their local surroundings and games so their kids have never been there either,” Johnston said. “We are in the same boat, so it’s not like they have an advantage over us playing in the state tournament last year. So, I think we go into it knowing we have about the same experience at the state level with both of our ball clubs.”

The Hawks have had a great season, but Johnston knows the kids want more. With the bye in the first round of regionals this year the Hawks are one win from the state final four.

“This year we happened to earn the bye, you have to win one game,” Johnston said. “We’ve had our eye on the prize. You don’t want to look forward, but with the bye you have to win one game to get to the Final 4. People always look at is as you had a good season, you won the league title, but no, we’ve got goals in mind and these kids are very goal oriented. They are in the present in their mind, but they are forward thinking as well.”
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IN TOP PHOTO: Corning’s Jackson Casey. . . PHOTO BY BRIAN FEES