Despite going 1-3 last week, it was still a good result for the Lady Dragons of Jefferson.
That’s because the win, coming Friday against Oglethorpe, was their first sub-region pairing of the year, giving them a 1-0 record as they start into the heart of their region schedule.
Next up for the Lady Dragons is their first match-up in history against their cross county rivals, the East Jackson Lady Eagles on Friday.
East Jackson will come into Friday’s game looking to end a losing streak, and trying to pick up their first region win of the year as well.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Last week started for the Lady Dragons with a trip to Rabun County to face the Lady Wildcats.
Jefferson started out playing well in spurts. Rabun County took an early lead, staying ahead by about four or five points in the first quarter, while Jefferson cut it to three or four points in the second quarter.
Late in the second quarter, the Lady Dragons went on a run, and cut the lead to two points, but a couple of costly turnovers put them down by six at the half, 22-16.
Jefferson started the second half out on a run, taking the lead. Both teams would trade the lead back and forth until about halfway through the fourth quarter when Rabun moved out to an eight-point advantage.
As the Lady Dragons attempted to fight back into contention, they had several chances in the last minute and a half of play to cut the lead to one. But after two misses, Rabun County was able to draw some fouls, and took the advantage and the 50-43 win.
Marcayla Hester led the Lady Dragons in scoring with 16 points, while Callie Holloway had 11 and Erin Knight had ten.
“Marcayla also played well on the defensive end,” said coach Jason Gibson. “She held their leading scorer, who was averaging about 15 points a game, to five points. Three of her five came against one of our zone defenses.
She basically held her to one field goal on the night.”
Gibson credited Rabun County for being an extremely talented team.
“They have a great record, and they’re ranked number eight in the state,” he said. “They’re a good team, but I feel like we had our chances and definitely could have won the ball game.”
Next up for Jefferson was a home stand against Oglethorpe County, marking the Lady Dragons’ first sub-region game of the season.
“We’ve worked all year trying to get ready for this point,” Gibson said. “The sub-region games are the ones that count the most. We’ve played a brutal schedule trying to get ready for this, and I think our kids understand that, and they’ve bought into the idea that it doesn’t matter what your overall record is. The only thing that matters is your sub-region effort.”
The Lady Dragons responded to the call by shooting the ball well, having good movement and hitting nine three-pointers en route to a 65-18 rout over the Lady Patriots.
“It was one of those nights where things seemed to click,” Gibson said.
Emily Jacobs led Jefferson in scoring with 13 points. Out of 11 players that dressed out for the game, 10 scored against Oglethorpe.
“We played really well that night,” Gibson said. “ We did a good job defensively for a full 32 minutes.”
Next was another home stand, this time on Saturday against Oconee County. Oconee came to town on a hot streak, having just upset Hart County and having defeated Jackson County in a close contest the night before.
That streak continued against Jefferson, who seemed to have trouble shooting from the perimeter, as well as going 0-14 from three-point range.
But the Jefferson defense did hold the Lady Warriors to only 40 points, as Oconee won 40-32.
Jacobs led Jefferson in scoring with 13, while Knight scored 10.
“They’re one of those teams that can give you problems due to their height,” Gibson said. “It’s hard to pressure kids like that. Coach (Cindy) Roach has three very skilled players, and they utilize those kids very well.”
Gibson said the problems the Lady Dragons had from the perimeter isn’t the norm for his team.
“Most of the time if our kids get open looks, we’ve really been knocking those down. It was frustrating for us as a team. Some of the credit needs to go to Oconee’s defense. Defensively, I felt like we played pretty well.
“We struggled putting the ball in the hole that night. Against quality teams, if you can’t put points on the board, you’re going to have a hard time winning. Good teams are going to find a way to put points up against you.”
The Lady Dragons were scheduled to travel to Banks County to face the Lady Leopards Tuesday night. Results of that game were unavailable at press time.
