MILL CREEK — The way Jackson coach Steve Johnson sees it, his team just had a midterm.

The Timberwolves, the fourth-ranked team in Class 4A, had defeated all 13 teams they've played this year, but they hadn't had a true test. That changed on Friday, when Jackson took on Arlington, the WesCo 4A North leader.

The Timberwolves didn't struggle much along the way, building a big early lead that propelled them to a 64-50 win. Johnson's final grade for his team: A solid B.

"It's nice to do well on midterms," Johnson said, "but we strive to get better every day."

Jackson (14-0) had no problems breezing through the first part of the test. A 13-0 run in the first quarter helped the Timberwolves build a 19-6 lead. Jason Todd's tip-in near the end of the half gave Jackson a 33-15 lead at halftime.

Todd, Jackson's versatile 6-foot-5 junior guard and the second-leading scorer in WesCo 4A, finished with 24 points, including 15 in the second half, and had a team-high 13 rebounds.

"You get a little spoiled because he gets points in a variety of way," Johnson said. "There's been a lot of games where I'm like, Really? He had 24?"

Todd and his teammates made 13 of 26 shots in the first half and had just three turnovers. Jackson's efficient offensive start was coupled with a smothering effort on defense.

Arlington (12-2) made just 7 of 25 shots in the first half, including 1 of 11 from three-point range. The Eagles' leading scorer, Terry Dawn, never looked comfortable early and finished the half 2 of 10 for four points.

"In the first half, we did a really nice job taking them out of where they wanted to get the ball and what they wanted to do," Johnson said.

"I think we kind of got deer in the headlights a little bit," Arlington coach Nick Brown said.

The Eagles rallied after halftime, looking far more like a team that had lost only one game coming into the night. Arlington sliced Jackson's lead to nine after a Bradey Brummel layup. But Jackson always found a response.

Todd, Dan Kingma and Brian Zehr, the Timberwolves' three leading scorers, had all but one of the team's 31 points after halftime. Kingma finished with 18, including four three-pointers. Zehr added 15 points and seven rebounds.

"We shot the ball well early, and defensively we were really good," Todd said. "But the second half we struggled there. That's what midterms are for. Hopefully later down the road we're perfect when we need to be, but we've got a pretty good grade so far."

Dawn and Kaleb Bryson led Arlington with 14 points apiece.