Wow. Also: Whew!
The Jefferson High volleyball team had a thrilling weekend at the Class B Southern Division tournament in Colstrip — perhaps a bit more thrilling than it had anticipated. The result, though, was a second-place finish and a ticket to this week’s state championship.
The unexpected twist for the Panthers was their first-round match Thursday against Columbus. Jefferson had defeated the Cougars twice in the regular season, both times in straight sets. But those results were deceptive: There were no blow-out games, and Columbus was tough.
Very tough, it turned out: This time, the Cougars blanked the Panthers, 25-21, 25-21, 25-18. That put Jefferson into the loser-out consolation bracket.
The Panthers’ first match there was against Red Lodge, another good team, Red Lodge put down the first point and was up 2-1 before the Panthers got rolling. Cameron Toney slammed over a couple of points, Ryian Eveland made it 5-4, and Brooklyn Miller had a nice block to make it 8-4. Red Lodge came back to pull to 10-9, but Miller slammed down a kill and shortly later a block that started the Panthers on a run to go up 14-9. Red Lodge came back to take a 17-16 lead, but the Panthers finished the set with an 8-2 run.
The Panthers started the second set with an 11-5 run. Erica Shields put over an ace to make it 12-5, Miller made it 19-13 with a kill and the Panthers went on to win 25-17. Red Lodge started the third set with a 5-1 run and held a 7-3 lead before the Panthers came back with a hard kill by Toney, a point by Grace Quigley and an ace by Avery Popp to go up 12-11. The final: 25-14.
That was one down, but the Panthers needed at least two more to qualify for State. They got one more with a thrilling five-set victory over Shepherd, 20-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-20, 15-10. In this one, Toney had 30 kills, 4.5 blocks, 14 digs, and a save. Shields made 4 kills, 24 assists and 28 digs; Miller 7 kills and 6 digs; Eveland 6 kills, 7.5 blocks and 4 digs; Maddy Averill 2 aces and 39 digs; Popp 10 assists and 14 digs; Grace Quigley 1 block and 5 digs; Maia Walters an ace and 10 digs; Abby Rosenbaum 7 digs; and Jaida Jurenka 5 digs.
That left Jefferson facing its old conference rival, Broadwater on Saturday — and this one went the Panthers’ way, 25-16, 25-22, 25-16. Later that day, Jefferson met another nemesis, Huntley Project, and dispatched the Red Devils in straight sets, 25-22, 25-22, 25-17. Toney again led the team, with 5 aces, 23 kills, 1.5 blocks and 6 digs. Erica Shields made 32 assists and 21 digs; Miller 11 kills, 1 block and 3 digs; and Averill 2 aces and 22 digs.
That made it four straight, and the Panthers had punched their ticket to State. But they still had to face a very strong Baker team for the championship. Their run ended here, as Baker took the title, 25-15, 25-16, 25-7. Toney had 9 kills and 7 digs in this one; Shields made 12 assists and 14 digs; Miller an ace and 14 digs; Eveland 4 kills, 2 blocks and 3 digs; and Averill an ace and 14 digs.
Baker, Jefferson and Huntley Project all will join the Class B championship this weekend at Montana State University in Bozeman. All school classes will compete at the same time on four courts in the MSU field house, making for a really fun event. The Panthers open at 10 a.m. Thursday against Fairfield; the winner takes on either Florence-Carlton or Huntley Project at 6 p.m.
Good luck Lady Panthers!
Football
There would be no magical comeback for the Panther football squad. After making the Class B semifinals three years in a row, Jefferson was ousted in the quarterfinals Saturday by Florence-Carlton, 35-14.
The Panthers and Falcons had met in the first game of the regular season — and that time, Jefferson took a 21-14 win, which would prove Florence-Carlton’s only defeat of the season.
The first half of Saturday’s rematch looked like another close contest. The Panthers scored first on a pass from Tizer Zody to Luke Oxarart, and Hunter Stevens’ kick gave Jefferson a 7-0 lead. Florence-Carlton tied the game at 7 with 38 seconds left in the first quarter, and neither team scored in the second, leaving the score tied, 7-7, at the half.
But Florence-Carlton scored with 10:33 left in the third to make it 14-7. And a fumbled hike by the Panthers on their own 29 gave the Falcons the ball back, leading to another score.
The Panthers were moving the ball, mostly on runs by Oxaraxt, a nice gain was called back on a holding call, and once more, Florence seized on the opportunity, taking a 28-7 lead with 5:44 left in the game.
A quarterback sack by Cooper Mikesell gave the Panthers good field position, and the offense responded with a big touchdown pass from Zody to Oxarart. But that was as close as Jefferson wold come, and a great season ended with a 35-14 defeat.
This is a young squad, and many will return next year. Congratulations on a strong season.
