Jacob Lewis
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Jakub Hisel
Jefferson’s game plan worked nearly to perfection in Friday night’s Class 1 quarterfinal held at Civic Area in St. Joseph.
Defensively, the Eagles pressured all-state guard Jacob Lewis from the toss in all the way down the floor. Offensively, Jefferson posted 6’6” forward Chase Farnan on the block against shorter Redbird defenders, a move that also freed up Eagle shooters on the perimeter.
The result was a 55-39 victory that propelled the unheralded Eagles into Friday’s class semifinals at the John Q. Hammon Arena on the campus of Missouri State University in Springfield.
Winston, 26-1, could not attack or defend on all fronts. Farnan took advantage of a 5-inch height advantage to score over Cy Uthe and give Jefferson an 11-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. The towering junior struck again in the paint off a Clayton Merrigan feed seconds into the second period. Uthe responded with a 3-pointer on the other end but Farnan would reject Winston’s next shot and teammate Koby Stoll went coast to coast for a layup to up the ante to 19-11.
A deep ball by Merrigan put the Eagles in front, 24-13. Uthe stole the next Eagle possession, which translated into an easy layup, foul and free throw. A steal and bucket by Lewis ahead of the half time buzzer ended the period on a high note that cut the deficit to 24-18.
The Redbirds exited the locker room in a zone defense that helped them cut further into the lead. Uthe stole a rebound on the offensive end and got the putback. Nathan Jermain nailed a trey for the Eagles. Uthe answered with a break-away layup off a Lewis pass, but the Eagles were always ready with an answer.
Jermain hit another 3-pointer from the baseline. A Merrigan to Farnan alley-oop made it a double digit game, 32-22, as Winston struggled to keep Jefferson’s advantage under 10 points. Jakub Hisle hit both ends of a bonus foul. With 1:53 Lewis went coast to coast off a throw in and Uthe head faked Farnan for a bucket in the lane to make it 39-30.
Winston’s game took a hit with one second left in the third quarter when Lewis picked up his fourth foul as Merrigan lanced in for a putback attempt.
Jefferson continued to answer Winston baskets. Uthe knocked down a trey early in the fourth quarter. Farnan responded with a bucket in the paint. Brian Lewis made a second-shot attempt to put the Redbirds under a double digit deficit for the final time, 46-37.
The Eagles were much less than perfect at the foul line down the final stretch but the Redbirds would suffer for over 4 minutes without scoring a point before both teams turned over their lineups from the bench.