After falling out of the region tournament last year in the opening round, the Jefferson Dragons were determined not to let history repeat itself this year.
The Dragons not only assured history would not repeat itself, but went on to win the region title Tuesday night with a 58-57 victory over Riverside Military Academy.
State tournament play starts Friday, with Jefferson playing host to either Manchester or Spencer from Columbus. The start time for Friday’s game has yet to be determined. Fans can call the school later this week for the start time.
Fannin County
The Dragons began their post season by traveling to Dawson County Friday night, where they faced the Fannin County Rebels.
From the start, Jefferson took control of the game, moving out to an 18-7 advantage by the end of the first quarter. The Dragons would break the game open in the second quarter, adding 19 more points to their tally while holding the Rebels to just eight, making it a 37-15 lead at halftime.
It was more of the same after the half, as Fannin County scored just ten points in the third quarter while the Dragons put an additional 24 points on the board, taking a 61-25 lead by the end of the quarter.
Down the stretch, Jefferson would tack on another 17 points before the final buzzer, as the Dragons won 78-36.
J.J. Damons led Jefferson in scoring with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Tate Chesser scored 11 points on the night.
Eighteen JHS players hit the court against Fannin County, with 11 of them scoring.
The win locked the Dragons into a spot in the AA state tournament.
“I was hoping that the fact that we had a lot of kids back from last year when we got upset in the first night of the region tournament would be a motivating factor,” said coach Bolling DuBose. “It was, but I also think it was a case of the guys feeling like they had gone through the region undefeated, and they weren’t going to let one game come between them and the chance to play for the region title.”
Rabun County
Up next was a Monday night pairing against Rabun County at EJCHS that would determine who would have home court advantage during the first game of state playoffs.
The Dragons moved out to an early lead, outscoring the Wildcats 22-14 to move out front by the end of the first quarter. Just as in the previous game, Jefferson broke the game wide open in the second quarter, adding 21 points to their score while holding Rabun County to 12, giving the Dragons a 43-26 advantage going into the half.
Jefferson would continue to control the court in the third quarter, putting 25 points on the board as opposed to 15 by the Wildcats, giving the Dragons a 68-41 lead. Rabun County was able to just barely outscore Jefferson in the fourth quarter, 21-20, but they got no closer as the Dragons went on to win 88-62.
Darius Minor led in scoring for the Dragons with 22 points. J.J. Damons scored 20 points. Tate Chesser scored 13. Rayshad Borders scored 11. Ten different players scored.
DuBose said he had a few concerns about the game, especially considering that the Dragons had defeated Rabun County by a large margin, 90-60, in their previous meeting.
“It’s real easy when you beat somebody bad the first time you play them to come back the next time and have a hard time getting motivated to play them well,” he said.
The win meant the Dragons would face off against Riverside Tuesday night to decide the region title. After a slow start that saw them trail the Eagles 14-7 at the end of the first quarter, the Dragons worked to stay in contention in the second quarter. They were trailing by seven points, 27-20 at the half.
The Dragons would fight back through the third quarter, and would trail by just one point, 41-40, going into the fourth. Down the stretch, the margin remained close, and in the end, Jefferson squeaked out the one point advantage to win the game and the region title, 58-57.
Darius Minor led in scoring for the Dragons with 19 points. David Watson scored 14. Tate Chesser scored 12. J.J. Damons scored 11.
