The Lady Dragons of Jefferson are riding a four game winning streak towards the post season, as they picked up region wins against Dawson County, Oglethorpe County and East Jackson last week, giving them a 5-1 region record, and placing them solidly in second in the subregion.
The Lady Dragons will wrap up their regular season with a trip to face the subregion leader, North Oconee, on Friday. The undefeated Lady Titans have been the only team to beat Jefferson in region play this season.
Tip-off Friday night is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Dawson County
Jefferson started out last week with a home stand against the Lady Tigers of Dawson County. The Lady Dragons went to work early, forcing Dawson into some early mistakes, and took a 14-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. Jefferson held the Lady Tigers to six points in the second quarter while adding another 10 to their score to lead 24-12 at the half.
In the third quarter, the Lady Dragons went to work, recording 26 points while they held Dawson to 12, carrying a 50-24 lead into the fourth quarter. In the end, Jefferson came away with the victory, 56-39.
Marcayla Hester led Jefferson in scoring with 12 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals. Callie Holloway had 10 and Erin Knight had eight.
“I thought we played well against Dawson County,” said coach Jason Gibson. “We came out in the 3rd quarter and really got after them on the defensive end and that allowed us to really break open the game.
“Marcayla Hester played an outstanding game. She ended up with a double double and only 3 steals shy of a triple double.”
Oglethorpe Co.
Up next was a trip to Oglethorpe County to face the Lady Patriots, a team that has faced its share of problems this season.
The Lady Dragons came out swinging from the start, turning several turnovers into points to lead 23-2 at the end of the first quarter. It was more of the same in the second quarter, with Jefferson holding the Lady Patriots to just five points, while they ran their lead to 42-7 at the half.
In the end, Jefferson moved away to a 66-22 victory.
“I thought we came out and really took control of the game,” Gibson said. “It was a great defensive effort by our girls. They did an outstanding job of pressuring their guards and forcing them into mistakes.”
Emily Jacobs led in scoring with 10 points, going 5-5 from the floor. Bethany Whitlock scored nine, Stephanie Fincher scored eight and Summer Bartek scored seven as 11 players scored on the night.
Brittney Digby led the Lady Dragons in rebounds with seven. Skylar Evanson, Holloway, Hester and Whitlock each had four steals on the night, while Holloway had four assists.
“It was a great team effort,” Gibson added.
East Jackson
It was Senior Night for Jefferson, as they played host to East Jackson Saturday.
“Senior Night for us was a very emotional night,” Gibson said. “We have a great group of seniors and we all wanted it to be special for them. I couldn’t be prouder of our seniors. We’ve asked them to step up all year and lead this team and they have responded very well.
“This group has been through a lot of adversity this year and to see them being successful is a great feeling for everyone in our program.”
With emotions running high, the Lady Dragons looked to duplicate their victory from last month over the Lady Eagles.
But East Jackson was looking for a little revenge themselves, and ran the score up 10-3 in the first five minutes of the game.
But the Lady Dragons kept a cool head, and by the end of the first quarter, they had cut the lead to one point, as East Jackson led 11-10.
Jefferson kept control of the game, adding 12 points to their lead while holding the Lady Eagles to 5, making it a 22-16 game at the half.
The Lady Dragons continued their control of the game in the second half, running the score to 32-22 by the end of the third quarter. They would go on to win 46-28.
Hester led Jefferson in scoring and was just two points shy of her second double double of the week, as she scored eight points and 10 rebounds. Hester also recorded three steals while holding East Jackson’s leading scorer without a point for the night.
Holloway scored seven points, Knight scored six points, and Bartek scored four points and grabbed seven rebounds.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald.
