Oglethorpe remained winless in the region going into Tuesday.
Tip-off Friday night is scheduled for 7 p.m.
North Oconee
The Lady Dragons were on a roll going into last Tuesday’s pairing with the Lady Titans of North Oconee, who top the subregion standings.
Both teams came out swinging in the first two quarters, and going into the half, Jefferson found themselves down only by two. In the third quarter, the teams fought neck and neck, with Jefferson taking a one-point lead at the end of the third.
The score remained close in the fourth, and with about a minute and thirty seconds left in the game, the score was tied.
North Oconee broke the tie by scoring, moving ahead two points. Jefferson had an opportunity to tie the game after being fouled, but missed both shots.
The Lady Dragons got a great look at the basket in their next possession, but just couldn’t get the ball to go in. The Lady Titans would make two more foul shots and go on to win 35-30.
Emily Jacobs led Jefferson in scoring with nine points, and also had four rebounds and two steals. Marcayla Hester had six points and seven rebounds, along with three steals.
“I thought we played well defensively, but we just didn’t convert down the stretch,” coach Jason Gibson said. “We did not shoot the ball very well from the floor or the free throw line.”
Jefferson was 11-44 from the floor and seven of 15 from the line against North Oconee.
“Our kids played hard and we had our chances,” Gibson said. “North Oconee is a good basketball team. Hopefully we can learn from our mistakes and continue to improve as a team.”
Commerce
If the mistakes from Tuesday were still on their minds, it didn’t show Friday night when they hit the court in Commerce against their in-county rivals, the Lady Tigers.
The Lady Dragons took control early, leading 17-4 at the end of the first quarter. Jefferson dominated the court, holding Commerce to only four points, and pulling their lead out to 26-6 by the half.
Jefferson’s play to rattle the Lady Tigers early with their pressure and keep them from settling into a rhythm worked as the Lady Dragons went on to trounce Commerce 62-20.
Skylar Evanson led Jefferson in scoring with nine points and four steals. Hester had eight points and five rebounds, while Erin Knight scored eight points and had three assists.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald.
