Jefferson High’s basketball teams went into last weekend’s District 5B tournament at Manhattan Christian with two very different stories. The girls probably would make it out of the weekend to qualify for Divisionals — but they hadn’t been able to beat top-seeded Ennis. And the boys were a strong squad, but were fighting with at least four other tough teams for the next level.
In the end, both stories had happy endings: The Lady Panthers topped Ennis in a thrilling overtime final to win the conference crown. And the boys showed that they weren’t ready to go home just yet, squeezing out two back-against-the-wall wins on Saturday to take third place.
Now, the Jefferson girls will start the South Division tournament in Billings as the number-two seed, taking on Sweet Grass County, while the boys will begin their tournament in Wednesday’s play-in game against St. Labre.
In the district tourney, the boys took on Ennis in the first round. The Panthers jumped out to a 33-16 lead at the half and went on to win, 61-39. Kellen Meridith scored 14, Tyzer Zody 13, Hunter Stevens 10, Tyler Frydenlund 9, Wyatt Geier 8, Jed Williams 4 and Caleb Morris 3.
Jefferson’s second game was with Manhattan, always a tough match-up. The Panthers struggled to get the ball through the hoop early on and found themselves down 10-4 after 8 minutes of pla. They rebounded with a 16-15 second quarter, and stayed even in the third period — but Manhattan took advantage of the Panthers’ cold shooting toward the end to pull out the win, 57-41. Geier had 14 in this one, while Stevens scored 11 and Frydenlund 7.
That put the Panthers in the consolation bracket, needing two wins to secure third place and a spot in Divisionals. On Saturday morning, they took on Broadwater. This was close for the first half, with Jefferson leading by just three, 21-18, at the horn. But the Panthers pulled away after the break, leading by 42-33 after three on their way to a 60-48 victory. Stevens scored 19, Meredith 14, and Frydenlund 13.
That left Lone Peak as the last hurdle to a Divisional ticket. The Panthers came out strong, up 18-12 after one quarter. At the half, their edge was 29-25. They picked up 7 points in the third to take a 45-34 lead into the final 8 minutes of play — and they held on from there for a 57-48 win. Geier led the scoring with 18; Meredith had 12 and Stevens 10.
The Lady Panthers cruised past Lone Peak, 69-29 in their opener, with Cameron Toney leading the scoring with 15 points. Michala Morris had 11, Ryian Eveland and Erica Shields 8 each, Brooklyn Miller and Jaida Jurenka 7 each, Josie Oxarart 5, Meredith Rieder and Brianna Layng 3, and Parker Layng 2.
Jefferson had an expectedly close second-round match against Broadwater — the Panthers had won, 58-38, in the regular season, but the Bulldogs kept this rematch close to the end, finally ceding, 54-49. Toney and Eveland scored 19 each in this one to lead the team; Morris had 6, and Jurenka 5.
And then, not surprisingly, there was Ennis in the final. The Mustangs had lost just twice in the regular season, and they had beaten the Panthers twice. And for a while, it looked like more of the same: Ennis jumped out to a 12-7 lead after one period, and was still up 26-22 at the half and then 42-33 after three.
But then, magic happened. Jefferson made a fourth-quarter run to tie the game at 48 at the end of regulation. And in overtime, they held the Mustangs to just two points, taking the 57-50 win and the crown. Toney scored 19 again; Eveland had 11, Miller 10, and Parker Layng 9.
In Billings, on Wednesday, the Panther boys play St. Labre at 11:30 a.m. The girls’ game against Sweet Grass is at 2:30 p.m. The top three teams in each bracket move on to State in Missoula next week. Good luck Panthers!
