The Jefferson Dragons are ringing in the new year by taking part this week in the Pickens County Christmas Tournament. They started off tournament play with a victory over Kell Monday night.
They will continue play today (Wednesday), then return to regular season play on Jan. 8 when they play host to Banks County.
Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.
The Dragons faced off against the Longhorns of Kell High School Monday to begin tournament play. The game started off close, with Shod Borders sinking three three-pointers in the first quarter to help give Jefferson a 19-15 advantage. In the second quarter, Jefferson turned on the heat, outscoring the Longhorns 27-15 to give the Dragons a 46-30 advantage at the half.
With a 16-point advantage, the Dragons looked to add to their lead in the third quarter. Instead, they found a strong Kell team ready to make a charge. At one point, the Longhorns had cut the lead to just eight points, but the Dragons fought back and put the advantage back to 16 points with a score of 56-40 at the end of the third.
Kell again fought back in the fourth quarter and cut the lead to 56-52. At one point, the Longhorns tied the score up, but Jefferson managed to slip back into the lead.
With about 30 seconds left on the clock, the Dragons held a slight advantage. Kell scored to move ahead, but with seconds left, Jefferson’s Tyler Bailey got fouled and hit both free throws to give Jefferson the lead again. Despite another charge by Kell, Jefferson was able to move out slightly farther and by the end, the Dragons held on to win 69-62.
J.J. Damons led in scoring with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Shad Borders scored 3 points, including four three-pointers in the first half.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald.
