Jefferson pulls away from South Nodaway
By DAVID MERRILL/DAILY FORUM
Jefferson’s Michael Burch looks for an open teammate against South Nodaway on Thursday. He had 19 points and four assists in the Eagles’ 56-33 victory.
CONCEPTION JUNCTION —The South Nodaway and Jefferson boys’ basketball teams struggled to find the basket early, but the Eagles found their rhythm toward the end of the second quarter and never looked back.
They finished the night with a 56-33 win.
Jefferson closed the final minutes of the first half on an 8-0 run to extend the lead from 13-8 to 21-8 at the halftime break.
Eagle head coach Tim Jermain said his team had to adjust to South Nodaway’s defense.
“They did a good job of slowing the game down,” he said. “We had a workman-like effort. I didn’t see us get frustrated offensively. To be able to go into halftime with a little bit of a lead was big for us.”
Michael Burch led the Eagles offensively with 19 points to go with five steals, four assists and one rebound.
Jermain said his performance was similar to the one in Jefferson’s win over South Holt on Tuesday.
“I thought he really did a good job of playing under control,” he said. “There’s a fine line between being aggressive and trying to force things. He did a great job of that on Tuesday and did a great job of that again tonight. He was aggressive, but didn’t really force anything. He did a lot of good things.”
Jefferson also had six different players with at least one assist.
Jermain said he feels like his team plays the best when everyone is getting touches and sharing the ball.
“That’s something we take pride in,” he said. “We want to create things with the pass. South Nodaway makes it really hard to penetrate with the dribble. We talk all the time about making the extra pass and I thought we did a good job of that tonight.”
Once the second half started, South Nodaway never really got any rhythm back and fell behind 38-14 after the third quarter.
Longhorn head coach Dustin Skoglund said his team couldn’t get anything going on either end of the floor.
“They’re good at going on runs,” he said. “We knew that’s something we were going to have to stop coming in. Early in the game, we were able to execute, but then we had some mental lapses and gave them some easy points. They’re a team that you can’t allow that to happen against.”
Burch said the Longhorns have scoring threats inside and outside.
He knew it wasn’t going to be easy.
“They have some good post players and left-handed guys that can shoot the three-pointer,” he said. “We knew it would take a total team effort.”
Both teams’ next games will come in the Stanberry Invitational on Jan. 9. The Tournament runs through Jan. 14.
JEFFERSON (7-3): SCORING (FG made-att., FT made-att., 3 PT made-att.) — Burch 19 (4-6, 3-4, 5-5); Cad. Farnan 16 (5-10, 0-0, 2-2); Cha Farnan 8 (4-6, 0-0, 0-0); Jermain 5 (1-1, 1-2, 0-0); Merrigan 2 (1-1, 0-2, 0-0); Stoll 2 (0-3, 0-1, 2-2); Chor 2 (1-1, 0-0, 0-0); Meyer 0 (0-1, 0-0, 0-0). TOTALS 56 16-25 (64%); 4-9 (44%); 9-9 (100%).
SOUTH NODAWAY (4-4): (FG made-att., FT made-att., 3 PT made-att.) — Tay. Freemyer 14 (7-14, 0-0, 0-0); Harlan 8 (4-4, 0-4, 0-0); Kramer 5 (0-2, 1-1, 1-1) Farnan 3 (1-5, 0-0, 1-2); Tris. Freemyer 3 (0-3, 1-2, 0-0); Murphy 2 (1-1, 0-0, 0-0). TOTALS: 33 13-29 (44.8%); 2-7 (28.5%); 2-4 (50%).
By DAVID MERRILL/DAILY FORUM
Jefferson’s Grant Meyer tries to get through a South Nodaway defender on Thursday. He didn’t score, but the Eagles won 56-33.
By DAVID MERRILL/DAILY FORUM
Jefferson’s Caden Farnan catches a lob pass in the paint against South Nodaway on Thursday. He had 13 points in the Eagles’ 56-33 win.
By DAVID MERRILL/DAILY FORUM
South Nodaway’s Tristan Freemyer goes up for a layup against Jefferson on Thursday. He had three points in the Longhorns’ 56-33 loss.
By DAVID MERRILL/DAILY FORUM
South Nodaway’s Taylar Freemyer gets between two Jefferson defenders for a layup attempt on Thursday. He had 14 points in the Longhorns’ 56-33 loss.
