WHILE JEFFERSON beat Johnson 74-71 Tuesday, the Dragons don’t wish to repeat that performance this Friday when they play Elbert County.
Jefferson (10-11, 4-4) held off the Knights on the road but didn’t play inspired basketball in doing so.
“The guys know it,” coach Bolling DuBose said. “I asked them after the game, ‘What’s going to happen if you play like that against Elbert County?’ And they said, ‘We’ll get killed.’”
The Dragons take on the Blue Devils Friday on the road and then play East Jackson on the road Saturday in what should be an interesting matchup between two opponents that are close in proximity and tied in the region standings.
“We’ve got to get ready to play because we’ve got a big weekend,” DuBose said.
Jefferson then faces East Jackson again Tuesday at home.
Against Johnson, David Watson nailed five three-pointers and finished with 29 points.
In fact, Watson had 18 points in the first half, accounting for half of Jefferson’s offense as it led 36-28. Jefferson built a 60-47 edge after three quarters and could have taken over the game in the fourth quarter.
“We had several chances to get the lead up to 20 and we didn’t do it,” DuBose said.
Johnson, sparked by three consecutive threes in one stretch during the fourth quarter, eventually cut the lead to one.
But Watson finished off his night by hitting free throws in the final 30 seconds to ensure the win.
“I think it was good to get a win without playing our best,” DuBose said.
Jefferson was coming off its biggest subregion win yet, having beat first-place Elbert County 62-56 Saturday.
Watson scored 13 points – all in the second half – and Austin Thompson added 12 as the Dragons at last won a tight Region 8-AA South contest. Jefferson had three losses of three points or less in divisional play coming into this game.
“I really think the guys have figured out, if we play really hard all game we’ve got a chance to win against anybody we play,” DuBose said. “This one was big obviously because Elbert was in first place and undefeated in the subregion, so we really needed a subregion win against a good team.”
The victory moved the team back to .500 in divisional action.
Jefferson, which trailed 28-23 at the half, assumed control of the back-and-forth contest in the fourth quarter, leading the entire period.
Watson, who had hit a big three-pointer to tie the game at 37 in the third quarter, opened the final period by scoring six consecutive points to give the Dragons a 45-39 lead. Elbert County pulled within three – 45-42 – but Jefferson answered with a 12-5 run to build a 10-point lead with 1:25 left and essentially seal the win.
“Tonight (Saturday), I really felt there were so many guys who played well because they put more pressure on us than any team we’ve played all year,” DuBose said. “They’re physical. They get after you. They’re quick.”
The Blue Devils did manage back-to-back three-pointers in the final minute to make matters interesting, but Jefferson converted enough free throws down the stretch to preserve the victory. Especially Andre Daniel, who finished with nine points. Daniel’s free throws with 45 seconds left put the Dragons up 59-53 and gave Jefferson a two-possession lead.
“The biggest thing was that they kept fouling Andre, and I felt that Andre did a really good job of stepping up and hitting free throws,” DuBose said.
Jefferson’s win was all-the-more impressive in that it was able to shake off a tough 75-72 loss to second-place Hart County one night earlier. Watson scored 21 points in a game in which Jefferson led for most of the second half. Thompson added 15 for Jefferson, which built a 10-point lead at one point in the fourth quarter. Hoytes Damons finished with 11.
Jefferson lost its two games to Hart County by a total of four points this year. The Dragons fell to the Bulldogs 87-86 at home Jan. 4.
“We just turned the ball over as we have done in a lot of close games,” DuBose said.
Jefferson had hoped for a big two-game sweep of Hart County and Elbert County over the weekend but will take the split.
“We obviously wanted to win both of them, but we felt like if we could just at least get one of them, we would be in pretty decent shape,” DuBose said.
