The regular season is winding down, with just three games left before the district playoffs Feb. 16-18 in Belgrade. With wins over Three Forks and Choteau last weekend, Jefferson High’s basketball squads showed they’re pointing the right way.
Three Forks was in Boulder Friday night, and the Panther boys made it clear from the start that they weren’t standing on their loss to the Wolves back in December. Dalton Noble started the game with a block, Mike Emter and Kael Hesford sank threes, and Jefferson leaped to an 8-2 lead. Dylan Root’s three made it 11-6, and the Panthers were up 17-8 at the end of one.
The Wolves narrowed the gap, but Jefferson still held a 33-27 edge at the half. But in the third, the shots poured in from all corners: Five Panthers scored in the quarter, building the lead back to 52-41 with 8 minutes left. Another Noble block kept Panther fans loudly into the game, and Zody knocked down his 4th and 5th 3-pointers. After that, Jefferson cleared the bench, and subs finished out the game; the Panthers outscored the Wolves 17-5 in the final period to take the win, 69-46.
Zody led the Panthers with 21 points, while Emter scored 15, Hesford 11, Noble 9, Root 7, and Marcus Lee, Luke Oxarart and Luke Strizich 2 each.
The Lady Panthers had demolished Three Forks back in December, 57-29 — but their rematch was tighter. Jefferson went up 8-6 on a steal and score by Izzy Morris, and MacKenzie Layng’s long-range three helped put the Panthers up 15-9 at the end of one. Buckets by Cameron Toney and Morris lifted the lead to 19-9, and Austie May’s basket at the end of the half left the Panthers up 27-18.
A basket by Michaela Morris made it 43-26 in the third — but then, suddenly, the Panthers went ice-cold. The Wolves took advantage, pulling to 43-42. Izzy Morris stopped the run with a three and followed with a pair of free throws, and Toney took a missed Wolves shot full court and laid it in to give the Panthers some breathing room. Jefferson outscored Three Forks 12-6 in the final three minutes to take the win, 60-48.
The good times kept rolling Saturday in Choteau. The Lady Panthers wasted no time, pouring in 18 points in the first quarter while holding Choteau to 4. Layng and Hanna Stevens both scored 7 in the second and the Panthers padded their lead to 42-11.
By the end of the third period, it was 57-15, and all the Panther starters enjoyed cheering on the subs for the final 8 minutes. Jefferson shut out the Bulldogs in the fourth and took the lopsided win 62-15. Layng led the scoring with 14 points; Izzy Morris had 12, Stevens 9, Emma McCauley 6, Brooklyn Miller 5, Toney, May and Arena Faler 4, Clara Genger 3, Michaela Morris 2.
As for the boys, they defeated Choteau, 77-34. Hesford put in 14 points, while Zody, Noble and Colt Tietje had 11 each. Hunter Stevens scored 7, Oxarart 6, Root 5, Tyler McGrady 4, and Caleb Smartnick 2.
This week, the basketball teams host Ennis on Thursday and travel to Big Timber on Saturday. Their final regular season games will be Saturday, Feb. 11, at Townsend.
