JEFFERSON — ‘How to win a HUGE region game 101.’
The Jefferson girls put on a textbook performance Tuesday night against Morgan County in a battle for first place in Region 8-3A at The Arena.
The Lady Dragons held the powerful Lady Bulldogs to their lowest output in a region game this season while at the same time surpassing their own scoring average in region games in an impressive 68-55 win.
The victory pushed the Lady Dragons into sole possession of first place in the region one game ahead of the Lady Bulldogs (16-5, 7-2 Region 8-3A) with three games left in the regular season. Morgan County won the first meeting between the two teams last month, 60-52, in Madison.
Jefferson (19-2, 8-1 Region 8-3A) came in averaging just 57 points a game in region play. Morgan County had not scored less than 63 in any region game this season.
The Lady Bulldogs led just once at 2-0 on a quick jumper in the opening seconds but Jefferson answered with a 14-2 run as four different players scored, highlighted by 3-pointers from Deshona Gaither and Livi Blackstock. They never trailed again as the defense was the catalyst forcing 19 Morgan County turnovers and converting those into 14 points for the game.
Jefferson girls coach Greg Brown said it may have been one of their most complete games at just the right time.
“Our effort and energy was fantastic the entire game,” Brown said. “Defensively I thought was the difference. Our 2-3 trap was very effective. It’s not something we’ve done a lot of so I think that was a good change of pace against their quickness.
“It probably was one of our most complete games from start to finish. We made some mistakes but to put that kind of effort together against a team like that was tremendous. We played a lot of freshmen and sophomores so I’m just really proud of how they handled themselves.”
Morgan County never went away, however, battling back to within 16-12 on an 8-2 run. But the Lady Dragons used a 16-6 spurt into the second quarter for a 32-18 lead. The Lady Bulldogs never got closer than five the rest of the way.
Natalia Bolden helped jump-start the decisive Jefferson run with five straight points. Blackstock capped it with her second 3-pointer. Morgan County used its own defensive pressure to pull closer forcing six second-quarter Jefferson turnovers to spark an 11-4 run over the final 3:02 to get within 36-29 by halftime.
But Jefferson exploded out of the intermission with a 12-1 run to push its lead to a high of 48-30 midway through the third quarter. A 15-4 third-quarter run got Morgan County within 52-45. A Taylor Wilson basket got the Lady Bulldogs within 58-53 with just under four minutes left in the game but the Lady Dragons forced five fourth-quarter turnovers and held Morgan County to just a pair of Tamia Buford free throws over the final four minutes.
Bolden paced Jefferson with 18 points while Blackstock and Gaither each had 14 points. Allianne Clark added 9 for the Lady Dragons.
Buford led Morgan County with 15 points. Wilson added 14 and Lou Reid had 10 for the Lady Bulldogs.
Morgan County next will play host to Jackson County while Jefferson plays host to East Jackson on Friday as the two teams will battle to the end for the No. 1 seed.
“We’ve still got three big games left so we have to focus on East Jackson or this one won’t mean much,” Brown said. “I’m sure we’ll see them again, whether it’s in the region tournament or even the state playoffs.”
MORGAN COUNTY BOYS 68 OT
JEFFERSON 59
Class 4A No. 1 Morgan County used a 20-10 fourth quarter to tie the game and then outscored the Dragons 11-2 in the extra frame to escape with a Region 8-3A win on the road.
The Bulldogs (20-2, 9-0 Region 8-3A) trailed 47-37 heading into the final period but used a 16-5 run to grab its first lead of the game at 53-52 on a basket by Tyrin Lawrence. They led 57-54 with 38 seconds left but Jefferson's Malaki Starks converted a three-point play with 19 seconds to tie the game and Morgan’s Alec Woodard missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have won it.
In the overtime, Lawrence hit a 3-pointer a minute in as part of a 5-0 run and Jefferson never caught up.
Woodard finished with 23 points, 12 coming in the pivotal fourth quarter and overtime. Lawrence and Stevin Green each had 15 points for the Bulldogs, who were playing their fourth game in five days.
Robinson paced Jefferson with 16 points but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter and overtime. Jacob Radaker added 15 points but he too was stifled down the stretch with just a pair of free throws in the final 12 minutes.
Jefferson never trailed through the first three quarters, though.
In the first half, the Dragons used a 19-6 run into the second quarter to pull away for a 25-12 lead. Daniel Parker helped spark it with a running basket, Robinson drained a 3-pointer and dished off a beautiful pass to Ryan Neese, and Starks capped it with a basket with 3:35 left in the half.
But the Bulldogs responded with an 8-0 run and finished the second quarter with a 13-4 spurt to get within 29-25 by halftime.
Jefferson led just 36-33 midway through the third quarter when a Robinson steal and layup sparked 9-4 run over the final 2:57 of the period to give the Dragons what looked to be a comfortable 47-37 lead. It was not meant to be, however.
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