Their next opponent will be a tough one, as they will face off against the Thomasville Bulldogs on Thursday.
Thomasville went 23-4 overall and 12-1 in their region, and enter Thursday’s game off of a victory over Henry County.
Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the Macon Centreplex.
Westminster
It was expected to be a close game, but it turned out to be almost too close for the Dragon Nation’s comfort.
Both teams fought for control of the court early on, with the score going back and forth through the first eight minutes. By the end of the quarter, the Dragons held a one-point advantage, 11-10. It was more of the same through the second quarter, as the Dragons and Wildcats continued to look for advantages. By the half, it was still Jefferson in control, now by three points, leading 27-24.
The third quarter was all Jefferson, however, as the Dragons broke the game wide open, outscoring Westminster 16-6, and carrying a 43-30 lead into the end of the third.
But the Wildcats weren’t through, and began working their way back into contention in the fourth quarter. They scored eight points in the opening minutes of the quarter, cutting the Dragons’ lead to five.
At one point, Westminster was able to move to within two points, but the Dragons would again pull away thanks for free throws made in the last few minutes of the game.
With just seconds left on the clock, the Wildcats again cut the lead to two points, but got no closer as Jefferson held on to win 58-56, their 17th consecutive game of the season.
Darius Minor led Jefferson in scoring with 20 points. J.J. Damons scored 18.
“It was a close game,” said coach Bolling DuBose. “It certainly got to a point late in the game where either team could have won. We did a good job defensively of not allowing them to shoot the ball very well late in the game, so they were never able to get the lead from us.”
Callaway
Wednesday’s victory over Westminster sent the Dragons to the Elite Eight. They traveled on Friday to Dalton to face the Callaway Cavaliers.
Callaway took control early on, moving out to 21-19 advantage by the end of the first quarter. Jefferson would continue to trail through the next quarter, but the Cavaliers began to pull away by the end, carrying a 37-31 advantage into halftime.
The Dragons would begin to turn things around in the third quarter. First they limited Callaway to just eight points in the quarter while adding 11 to their tally to move to within three, 45-42, by the end of the quarter.
Jefferson then began bearing down hard, taking a slim 51-50 lead with just under three minutes remaining. With just over a minute left, it was a one-point game.
In the end, Jefferson held Callaway to just 21 points in the second half to come away with a dramatic 65-58 victory, and move themselves into the final four in Macon.
Darius Minor scored 26 points, with 11 of those coming in the fourth quarter. J.J. Damons scored 13 points on the night.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald.
