As the basketball regular season winds down, the attention of coaches and players drifts more and more to the district standings. With two weeks of play remaining, both of Jefferson High’s teams need wins – and probably some timely aid from their rivals – to gain position for the District 5B tournament that begins Feb. 14. Tough division losses at home last weekend didn’t help the cause.
The Panther boys took on two teams rated high in Class B. Three Forks, which visited Boulder on Jan. 25, has some talented seniors left over from a team that last year won the divisional title and made a good showing at State. Their experience showed. While Jefferson stayed close in the first quarter, with Bryce Harrington accounting for half of his side’s eight points, it couldn’t stop a run in the second that gave the Wolves a 33-16 lead at the half.
It got worse. In the third quarter, the Panthers were overwhelmed by a 31-point Wolves burst. With the score 64-29 at the end of that period, both teams turned to reserves for most of the fourth. Final score: 79-40, as Trent McMaster (14) and Harrington (10) were the only Panthers in double figures.
