We’ve entered the second half of the basketball season, and the field is starting to take shape. With two more wins over the weekend, the Lady Panthers are 9-2 overall, and a game behind Ennis in the conference standings. The boys are 6-5, and still very much in the thick of things.
The boys took on Three Forks last week in Three Forks, always a tough place to play, and lost 63-52. The first 6 points went to the Wolves, before Wyatt Geier scored and started a Panther run, with a bucket by Hunter Stevens and a three by Geier giving Jefferson a 7-6 lead. A nice block by Stevens put some spark into the Panthers’ offense, and they held a 14-11 edge at the end of one.
Jed Williams put the Panthers up 19-11, then came up with a huge block on the other end — but the Wolves put in the next 9 to take a 20-19 lead. They led 27-25 at the half, then went on big run to start the third, making it 35-27 before the Panthers could regroup. Three Forks was still up, 54-44, with four minutes to play when Jefferson mounted a final challenge. Kellen Meredith hit a three, and Tyler Frydenlund stole the ball and scored to make it 58-52 — but the Wolves held on for the win.
The Panthers took on Manhattan at home the next afternoon. This was a thriller: Frydenlund opened the scoring for the Panthers, but the Tigers answered with a trio of 3-pointers for a 9-4 lead. Meridith sank a pair of free throws, Williams added a two and Geirer a three to pull the Panthers within three points, but the quarter ended with Manhattan up, 18-13.
Stevens started the second with a three, then threes by Tyzer Zody and Frydenlund made it 28-26, Panthers. But at the halftime buzzer, the Tigers had regained the lead, 36-32. The score was tied several times in the third, but Manhattan scored the final seven points to go up 57-50 with 8 minutes to play.
The Panthers caught up, taking a 61-60 lead on a three by Wyatt Mosher. And with the score tied at 70 and two seconds left in the game, Kellen Meredith was fouled. He hit the second free throw to give the Panthers a thrilling 71-70 win. Frydenlund led the Panther scoring with 16 points; Meredith had 15, Geier 14, Stevens 12, and Williams 11.
The Lady Panthers cruised past Three Forks, 52-37. Down 6-3 early, they stormed back for a 14-9 lead after the first 8 minutes of play. Brooklyn Miller started the second with a free throw, then Jaida Jurenka and KK Morris scored, Meredith Rieder hit a three, and Jefferson was on its way to a 27-16 halftime lead.
Three Forks came back after the break to pull to within 27-26 — but then Brianna Layng hit a three, little sister Parker Layng sank another three, and Cameron Toney a pair of free throws to give the Panthers a 38-28 lead after three. Erica Shields finished out the game with a two pointer to give the Panthers a 52-37 win. Toney led the Panthers with 11 points, while Parker Layng and Morris had 8 each.
The girls had to hold off a big fourth-quarter surge to beat Manhattan, 66-54. This game began with the Panthers looking comfortably in charge: Eveland scored and Miller added a three for an early 5-1 lead. Jurenka made it 7-3. And Morris sank a shot, then added a three and a free throw to put Jefferson up 17-12 at the end of one. Parker Layng hit a three to make it 20-15, Jurenka made it 22-15, and the Panthers were on their way to a 34-25 lead at the half.
The Tigers pulled to within 40-33, but Jurenka hit a three, Toney made a pair of free throws, Miller made a two and Jurenka another three to make it 56-38 at the end of three. But Manhattan made a late run, and the gap narrowed to 58-51 with three minutes left on the clock. But KK Morris scored, and Jurenka added a two and then a three to seal the Panthers’ win. Jurenka led Jefferson with 15 points, while Miller and Morris had 12 each, Eveland 10, and Toney 8 — all on free throws.
The hoopsters traveled to Livingston on Tuesday, and they’ll host East Helena on Saturday. On Thursday, the girls’ C squad hosts Anaconda, then the JV and varsity girls take on Lone Peak.
And congratulations to the Jefferson Speech and Debate teams, which qualified for this week’s State meet at Huntley Project. Go Panthers!
