But Friday night when Debevec climbed the last rung on a ladder with scissors in one hand and his 5-year-old, cute-as-a-button daughter in the other, he finally exhaled. Jackson played its best game in probably a month and beat Lake 66-45 to win a share of the Federal League boys basketball championship.

The Polar Bears share the title with Perry and McKinley.

It is the third year in a row Jackson has won the title.

“When you move 18 inches over on the bench, the seat gets a little hotter,” said Debevec, who served as an assistant for former Jackson coach Mike Fuline. “Yes, I felt some heat as the head coach. Those kids

didn’t want to be the team that didn’t win a Federal League championship.”

There was little doubt after the second quarter.

Jackson hit bombs in the second that had Lake on its heels. The Polar Bears hit three 3-pointers in four possessions to pull away.

Before that, Lake was down 16-8. The Bears kept drilling 3s, and with 1:59 left in the second, David Smith’s second trey was a knockout. That put Jackson up 27-10.

“They stepped up and hit some big shots, and it was different guys making them,” Lake head coach Tom McBride said. “We held them to one 3-pointer in the second half, but you can’t get outscored 21-0 on 3-pointers.”

Lake needed a quarter and a half to get to double-digit points. The Blue Streaks hurt themselves with eight turnovers in the second, too.

The Blue Streaks put together a nice run to start the third quarter. Lake’s 8-0 spurt made it a 31-22 game.

Then Evan Bailey nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing and the lead was back to 12. Bailey finished with 26 points. Miles Griffin had 14 and Smith 10 for Jackson.

“We shot the ball well tonight and we attacked the rim,” Debevec said. “We’re a good-shooting team and I believe good shooters have to keep shooting.”

Jackson came into the game having lost four of its last six games. Even the wins didn’t feel crisp.

Until Friday night.

“We put it all together,” Debevec said. “Hopefully this gets us on a roll. We won five in a row at the beginning of the year.”