After two wins and a loss last week, the Lady Dragons of Jefferson are now within shouting distance of the two region leaders with the regular season winding down.
The Lady Dragons will host their final home game of the regular season Friday night, as Oglethorpe County comes to Jefferson on senior night.
The Lady Dragons were victorious in the last meeting of the two teams, winning 50-16 back on Jan. 15.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
North Oconee
Jefferson played host last Tuesday to the Lady Titans of North Oconee. The game proved to be a close one early on, with North Oconee coming away with a three-point lead, 11-8, by the end of the first quarter. The Lady Dragons began pushing their way back, and by the half, Jefferson held a slim advantage, 22-19.
The game would remain close through the third quarter, with the Lady Dragons maintaining a five-point advantage, 35-30, at the end of the third. In the fourth quarter, the Lady Titans made a strong comeback, scoring 19 points to Jefferson’s seven. The Lady Dragons held the lead up to with about a minute and a half left, when North Oconee tied the game, and then took the lead. From there, the Lady Titans moved away, winning 49-42.
Skylar Evanson led Jefferson in scoring with 10 points on the night. Rachel Goza scored nine. Erin Knight scored eight.
“I felt like we outplayed them for three and a half quarters,” coach Jason Gibson said. “We just didn’t finish the game. We played hard, we did a lot of things right, we just missed a couple of opportunities in the last few minutes of the game to put it away.”
Commerce
The Lady Dragons were looking to rebound from Tuesday’s win in a Friday matchup with their longtime rivals, the Lady Tigers of Commerce.
Jefferson took control from the beginning, holding Commerce scoreless in the first quarter while taking a 9-0 lead. It was more of the same in the second quarter, as the Lady Tigers were held to six points while Jefferson added another 22 points to make it a 31-6 game going into the half.
The Lady Dragons continued to control the game in the second half, allowing Commerce only four points in the third quarter to make it a 40-10 advantage at the end of the third. Commerce made their biggest gain in the fourth quarter, but still couldn’t come close, as Jefferson went on to win 46-24.
“I thought it was one of the better halves of basketball that we’ve played all year,” Gibson said. “Intensity wise, effort wise, we finally put both ends of the floor together. We played exceptionally well on defense and we shot the ball well. We were every aggressive and attacked them. We were able to put some points on the board and take control of the game in the first half.”
Stephanie Fincher was the leading scorer against Commerce with 10 points. Rachel Goza scored 10. Erin Knight scored eight.
Banks County
On Saturday, Jefferson played host to the Lady Leopards of Banks County in a makeup game rescheduled from Jan. 8 due to bad weather.
Much like the North Oconee game on Tuesday, Saturday’s game started out as a close one. It was very back and forth for the first eight minutes, with the Lady Leopards coming away with a slim advantage, leading 10-9 at the end of the first quarter. It would remain close through the rest of the first half, as Banks County held Jefferson to nine points in the second quarter while adding 12 to their lead to make it a 22-18 game going into the half.
The Lady Dragons began to turn the tide in the second half, as they scored 19 points in the third quarter while holding the Lady Leopards to 11 points, giving Jefferson a 37-28 lead at the end of the quarter.
The Lady Dragons broke out in the fourth quarter, allowing Banks only nine points while they added 16 to their total to give Jefferson the 53-37 victory.
Stephanie Fincher led in scoring with 15 points. Erin Knight scored eight.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald.
