As the regular season wound down, Jefferson High’s basketball squads had a packed week, with three games each.
The Lady Panthers continued their torrid play, defeating East Helena on Jan. 23, 79-51, and then conference rivals Lone Peak, 68-24, and Manhattan, 64-44. Since losing to Columbus in their season opener, the ladies have won 11 straight and are undefeated in conference play.
In the East Helena game MacKenzie Layng led the scoring with 21 points. Cameron Toney had 16, Arena Faler 12, Ryian Eveland and Broolyn Miller 10 each, KK Morris 5, Hannah Stevens 4, and Melanie Zitnick 1. Against Lone Peak, it was Toney and Eveland with 13 each, Layng with 11, Miller and Jaida Jurenka with 7, Zitnick with 6, Faler with 4, Meredith Reider with 3, and Morris and Stevens with 23. Eveland led the scoring against Manhattan with 25 points; Jurenka had 9, Layng and Miller 7, Toney and Stevens 6, and Faler 5.
The boys, meanwhile, dropped a heartbreaker to East Helena, 53-51, then defeated Lone Peak, 65-49, before falling to Manhattan, 63-57. The Panthers now stand at 8-5 overall and 4-4 in the conference, still very much in the thick of things.
Hunter Stevens led the scoring against East Helena with 22 points, while Kael Hesford had 17, Parker Wagner 9, Kellen Meredith 7, and Colt Tietje and Tyzer Zody 3 each. Against Lone Peak, Stevens tallied 22, Hesford14, Marcus Lee 10, Wagner 9, Meredith 4, and Colt Tietje 3 and Zody 3. Dalton Noble led the attack against Manhattan with 18; Tietje had 17, Stevens and Lee 6, Meredith 4, and Hesford and Wagner 3.
The hoopsters will play at Ennis on Thursday, then host Whitehall on Saturday, Feb. 3, for Pack the House Night. They’ll be at Townsend on Feb. 8 and then close out the season against Manhattan Christian on Friday, Feb, 9, Senior night.
The District tournament is February 15-17 at Manhattan Christian — which has a great facility and terrific food. The Division championship is at Billings Feb. 28 to Mar. 2.
