The Jefferson Dragons entered play this week undefeated in the sub-region and with a victory against one of their archrivals after defeating the East Jackson Eagles last week.
The win left Jefferson 8-0 in the region and 11-6 overall.
Up next for the Dragons is a non-region pairing that still carries a lot of importance, as they will host Commerce at home Friday night.
In their last meeting, the Tigers handed Jefferson their first defeat in the long-standing feud in ten years. Commerce will be hoping to start their own win streak, while the Dragons are looking for a little revenge for the loss.
Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.
East Jackson
Jefferson played host Friday night to the Eagles of East Jackson in what was the first of two region games between the in-county rivals this season.
Jefferson took a brief early lead, but then found themselves trailing 16-12 at the end of the first quarter after East Jackson made a strong run from about halfway through the quarter on.
The Dragons settled into their rhythm in the second quarter and began working to regain the lead. They were met with strong competition from the Eagles, but by the end of the quarter, Jefferson had managed to ease out to a four-point lead over East Jackson. The Dragons carried a 32-28 advantage into halftime.
Both teams turned in equally strong performances in the third quarter, and seemed evenly matched throughout the eight minutes of play. The Dragons were able to maintain a four-point advantage, leading 49-45 at the end of the quarter.
The Dragons were finally able to get the breaks they needed, finding shots while the Eagles came up empty on several attempts. That allowed Jefferson to move out to a 10-point advantage as the clock ran down and in the end, the Dragons came away with a 66-55 victory in a game that was much closer than the score indicates.
J.J. Damons led in scoring for the Dragons with 27 points and nine rebounds. Darius Minor scored 16.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald.
