HART County drained six three-pointers in the second half as it handed Jefferson (9-12, 3-6) a 55-39 loss, its third straight in subregion play.
Skylar Evanson led the Lady Dragons with 12 points, 11 of which came in the first half. Sarah Wood added eight.
The Lady Bulldogs took a 28-21 lead into halftime after hitting a three-pointer with 1:10 left in the second quarter. Jefferson closed the gap to 30-25, but Hart County answered with an 8-0 run, which included two three-pointers. The Lady Bulldogs hit four threes in the third quarter alone.
“We wanted to make everything they did perimeter-oriented and (make them) shoot over our hand,” Jefferson coach Jason Gibson said. “We did a pretty good job of that other than the fact that we didn’t challenge any shots. We left them standing out there. We let them get way too comfortable. They shot the ball extremely well tonight (Friday).”
Besides Hart County’s hot-hand from beyond the arc, the Lady Bulldogs also benefited greatly from 33 Jefferson turnovers. Gibson felt his team generated much of Hart County’s offense with its loose handle on the basketball.
“I thought we fed to their offense more,” Gibson said. “We were the best player on their team a lot of times tonight (Friday).”
Making matters worse, Jefferson shot just 37 percent from the free throw line.
Jefferson is off until Friday when it hosts Elbert County. Gibson has mixed feelings about having such a break after a disappointing loss.
“Personally, I’d rather get back out and play to get that bad taste out of your mouth,” Gibson said. “But I think from a fundamental and an execution standpoint. We need to go back and reiterate some things we’re trying to do.”
