In his senior year playing for the Cleveland basketball team, Jackson Owens has taken on a bigger leadership role. Through Jan. 29, Owens has been averaging 25.1 points per game, which is second in Oregon’s 6A division. The Warriors at press time had a 9-8 record, but in league play they have excelled, holding a 6-2 record against PIL teams.

Owens has been playing basketball since kindergarten. Since his dad also played basketball, the game came naturally to him. Owens’ favorite player is LeBron James, but he stated that he doesn’t specifically model his game after James or any other players.

“I just try to play my own style of basketball,” Owens said.

After playing on JV his freshman year, which was pushed to a spring season because of COVID, Owens has been a key piece for the Warriors varsity team over the past three seasons. His proudest moment playing for Cleveland came in his sophomore year.

“We won PIL that year, and got to go to state at the Chiles Center where we made the quarterfinals,” said Owens. Cleveland finished as the No. 3 ranked team in Oregon that year.

Owens’ goals for this season are to repeat what happened in his sophomore year: “win the league and make it back to state.” Last year the Warriors were one game away from making it back to the Chiles Center, but a loss to Lincoln ended their season. Despite Owens’ success scoring this year, he admitted that he doesn’t pay much attention to individual statistics.

“My main focus is on winning,” Owens said.

Owens is excited for his final season in the green and yellow, as well as the future of the Cleveland basketball team.

“I feel confident in the underclassmen we have on the team,” expressed Owens. “Coach Sam (Glasgow) will get them into shape.”