Stanberry holds off determined Jefferson

By Phil Cobb | January 6, 2015 |

STEVE HARTMAN/DAILY FORUM
Jefferson junior forward Bryce Deen gets out in transition in Tuesday night’s 50-43 loss to Stanberry in Conception. Deen led the Eagles with 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Undefeated Stanberry (9-0) traveled to Jefferson Tuesday and held off a determined Eagles squad to post a 50-43 victory, keeping their season record unblemished.

Both squads mirrored each other in the first quarter, using aggressive 2-2-1 three-quarter-court trapping defenses and man-to-man half-court defenses. Due to this defensive pressure, both squads struggled to settle in offensively, and at the first quarter break, Stanberry held a 13-7 lead.

Jefferson caught fire in the second quarter, outscoring Stanberry 17-10 to take a 24-23 halftime lead. Sophomore guard Michael Burch hit a pair of three-pointers to tally six points in the half, and junior Bryce Deen scored six points as well, while junior Ben Jermain added five points for Jefferson.

“Our intensity level was good the entire game,” Jefferson head coach Tim Jermain said. “Offensively, we stood around at times, but because of foul trouble, we had some kids play lots of minutes, and I think those offensive lulls were due to the fact that we were tired.”

Stanberry outscored the Eagles 11-9 in the third quarter to take the lead back at 34-33 heading to the fourth quarter. That’s when Stanberry’s size provided them with a crucial advantage on the boards, as they outscored Jefferson 16-10 in the quarter.

“We needed to do a better job of finishing our defensive possessions by getting the rebound,” Jermain said. “That’s tough to do against a team with the size and strength that Stanberry has. (Stanberry junior Dan) Hailey had three or four offensive rebounds and putbacks in the fourth quarter that really hurt.

“Sometimes, we didn’t block out well enough, but other times they just went over us and got the rebound. It’s tough to do much about that.”

Deen finished with 12 points and eight rebounds to pace Jefferson, while Ben Jermain and Burch added eight points each. Sophomore center Caden Farnan pulled down seven rebounds for the Eagles, now 6-4 on the season.

Stanberry was paced by Hailey, who scored 13 points. Cory Luke added 11 for the Bulldogs.

Jefferson is back in action at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9 at St. Joseph Christian.