Jefferson Boys Basketball

Paige, Olson make Register all-state teams

Marcus Paige of Linn-Mar and Taylor Olson of Cedar Rapids Jefferson were named to the Des Moines Register Class 4A all-state basketball teams on Sunday.

Paige made the first team with Jeremy Morgan of Iowa City West, James Harrington of Cedar Falls, Kale Abrahamson of West Des Moines Valley and Adam Woodbury of Sioux City East.

Taylor made the third team with Josh Weeber of Dubuque Senior, Dale Jones of Waterloo West, Zach Burnham of Davenport Central and Dwight Sistrunk of Des Moines Hoover.

The Class 4A second team featured Sam Norman of Des Moines Roosevelt, Cole Myers of Ankeny, Ted Friedman of Ankeny, Dondre Alexander of Iowa City West and Joe Scott of Davenport West.

Paige, a 6-foot-2 guard, led Class 4A in scoring at 28 points per game and helped Linn-Mar place fourth in the state tournament. He has signed to play at North Carolina.

Olson, a 6-1 guard, averaged 18.3 points and helped the J-Hawks reach the state tournament for the third straight year. He has not committed to college.

The entire all-state teams can be viewed at www.dmregister.com.

J-Hawks win sportsmanship award at state tourney

DES MOINES - Cedar Rapids Jefferson was awarded the sportsmanship trophy at the conclusion of the boys state basketball tournament Saturday night.

The J-Hawks will receive a $1,000 grant that will be used for Jefferson's student-government program.

The award was based on the conduct of Jefferson's players and fans at the state tournament at Wells Fargo Arena. The J-Hawks lost to Ankeny, 58-26, in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

No.1 Ankeny spanks J-Hawks at state, 58-26

DES MOINES - Taylor Olson left the court at Wells Fargo Arena Wednesday with a blue towel on his head, partially masking the look of disappointment on his face.

His buddy, Alec Saunders, limped to the locker room with an ice bag attached to his bare right ankle, a painful reminder of an untimely injury.

The Jefferson J-Hawks suffered insult and injury in a 58-26 loss to top-ranked Ankeny in the opening round of the Class 4A state tournament in Des Moines.

Saunders twisted his ankle with 5:10 left in the first quarter and the J-Hawks clinging to a 5-3 lead. By the time he gamely returned in the third quarter, his club trailed by 16 points.

"He has a lot of heart, coming back like that," said Olson.

Heart was not merely enough as Jefferson (15-9) lost in the Class 4A quarterfinals for the third straight year.

Saunders made Jefferson's first bucket of the game with a 3-pointer with 6:25 left in the first quarter. Incredibly, it turned out to be Jefferson's only field goal in the first half.

The J-Hawks missed 11 straight shots after Saunders connected from the corner to finish 1 for 12 in the first half, a drought compounded by nine turnovers. Ankeny led at intermission, 27-13, as Jefferson scored 10 of its 13 points on free throws.

"Alec is a key part of our team," said Olson. "Anytime a key player like that goes down it's going to affect us.

"It got our spirits down. After that it kind of went downhill a little bit."

Saunders missed the last three games of the regular season with a sprained ankle. He played well in the substate tournament and helped the J-Hawks upset No. 3 Cedar Falls to get to Des Moines, only to reinjure his ankle less than three minutes into the state tournament.

The injury happened when the J-Hawks were chasing a rebound.

"I think me feet got caught on someone else's and I twisted it like I did the last time," he said. "It's a little bit aggravating. I hit the first shot of the game and felt pretty good, and then I get another injury."

Saunders was helped to the bench and spent the rest of the first half with his right foot propped on an equipment bag, a big bag of ice covering the injury. He played nine minutes in the second half, but couldn't cut or move very well.

"Painful," he said.

Saunders was a three-year starter for the J-Hawks and a key player on all three clubs that made the state tournament. His absence in the first half crippled the J-Hawks.

"It had more of an impact than I wanted," said Jefferson Coach Stu Ordman. "He's key. We didn't adjust to that very well."

Jefferson did not make its second field goal of the game until Justin Underwood hit a 10-footer with 6:13 left in the third quarter. Added together, the J-Hawks went 16 1/2 minutes between field goals.

That's a sure recipe for disaster in most games, let alone a state tournament game against the No. 1 team in Iowa.

Ankeny (24-0) grabbed a 23-point lead at 40-17 late in the third quarter, prompting Ankeny students to begin a derogatory chant that was aimed straight at the J-Hawks.

"How'd you get here? How'd you get here?" they sang in unison.

The deficit ballooned to 33 points at 56-23 midway through the fourth quarter and deep subs finished the game for both clubs.

Jefferson shot a miserable 7 for 37 for the game for 18.9 percent. That included a 1 for 15 showing on 3-pointers for 6.7 percent.

Ankeny entered the tournament with an average margin of victory of 22 points per game. Incredibly, that went up Wednesday. The Hawks won games this season by 40 (twice), 39, 38, 35, 30 (twice) and 29 before spanking the J-Hawks by 32.

"Pretty tough," said Ordman. "They're impressive."

Ted Friedman, a 6-foot-9 center who towered over the tallest J-Hawk, collected a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Ankeny pounded Jefferson on the backboards, 39-20, and grabbed 13 offensive rebounds.

Ankeny smothered Olson all day and held Jefferson's top player to 10 points on 3 for 13 shooting.

"We pride ourselves on defense," said Friedman. "You never know if the ball is going to go in the basket or not, but you always know how hard you can play on defense."

Bryan Sumner scored 13 points for Ankeny and Cory Myers collected 11 points.

Creighton Robinson, Ky Kramer and Underwood were Jefferson's second-leading scorers with four points apiece.

Ankeny will face Sioux City East (20-3) and 7-foot-1 center Adam Woodbury in the semifinals on Friday at 1:45 p.m.

JEFFERSON (26): Saunders 1 0-0 3, Robinson 2 0-0 4, Kramer 0 4-4 4, Hemphill 0 0-0 0, T. Olson 3 4-6 10, J. Olson 0 1-3 1, Mueller 0 0-0 0, Van Oort 0 0-0 0, Sullivan 0 0-0 0, Goodell 0 0-0 0, Weiderin 0 0-0 0, Knox 0 0-0 0, Underwood 1 2-2 4, Taylor 0 0-0 0, Lafler 0 0-0 0. Totals 7 11-15 26.

ANKENY (58): Cory Myers 5 0-0 11, Cole Myers 1 1-2 4, Egli 1 0-0 2, Friedman 5 3-5 13, Schabel 2 3-4 8, Jones 1 0-0 2, Sumner 5 0-0 12, Figley 0 0-0 0, Howard 0 0-0 0, Matter 0 0-0 0, Peck 0 0-0 0, Lindaman 2 2-2 6, Kuehl 0 0-0 0, Rinker 0 0-2 0, Deiter 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 9-15 58.

Halftime - Ankeny 27, Jefferson 13. 3-point goals - Jefferson 1 (Saunders 1), Ankeny 5 (Sumner 2, Cory Myers 1, Cole Myers 1, Schabel 1).

Full boxscore

Olson ready for 3rd state tourney with J-Hawks

He was nervous as a sophomore at the 2010 state tournament and injured as a junior last year.

Now Taylor Olson hopes his third straight trip to the state tournament with the Jefferson J-Hawks has a happier ending.

Jefferson (15-8) will face top-ranked Ankeny (23-0) in the opening round at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Olson, a 6-foot-1 guard, leads the J-Hawks in scoring (18.7) and assists (85), is tied for the team lead in steals (44) and ranks second in blocked shots (10).

He'd gladly trade those numbers for a "W" in the win column at the state tournament. Jefferson lost to Sioux City East, 51-43, in the first round in 2010 and was vanquished by Des Moines Hoover, 45-39, in the opening round last year.

Olson has played in a series of big games during his career, including a 67-65 victory over No. 3 Cedar Falls in the substate finals last week in Cedar Falls. He hit the game-winning shot against the Tigers in overtime to earn the trip to state.

"Being in big games like that - games at home, games away - it makes them that much easier," he said. "We know pressure now. I don't feel as much pressure as I used to, especially when I went to the state tournament my sophomore year. I was really nervous."

Olson scored 12 points in the state tournament against Sioux City East as a 10th grader, despite being nervous. He was hampered at the state tournament last year with a back injury and scored only three points, shooting 1 for 11 from the field.

Jefferson is seeded eighth in the eight-team field and faces a stiff challenge against No. 1 seed Ankeny, but most of the J-Hawks have faced the bright lights in Des Moines.

"Just having that experience, it makes me not nervous right from the beginning," said Olson. "You can actually play the game like it's a regular game."

Jefferson senior Alec Saunders also will be starting for the third straight time in the state tournament. He scored two points in 2010 and was blanked last year, so he's looking for a better experience this time around.

Saunders thinks the victory over Cedar Falls will help the J-Hawks against No. 1 Ankeny. "I feel like we can pull off an upset, as long as we play together and keep doing what we did the last time (against Cedar Falls)," he said.

Saunders, a 6-foot forward who plays bigger than his size, is averaging 9.0 points and 3.6 rebounds. He missed three games at the end of the regular season with a sprained ankle, but returned for the playoffs and helped Jefferson make it to Des Moines.

"I feel pretty good now," he said.

Ky Kramer, a 6-2 junior, will be starting in his second straight state tournament. He's averaging 9.5 points and 4.8 rebounds, second on the club in both departments, and is Jefferson's top 3-point shooter with 41 in 23 games.

Kramer said playing in the 2011 state tournament should be a benefit in this year's event.

"Last year I just tried to take in the experience, because I didn't know if I'd ever get this chance again," he said. "I took it seriously last year, but it feels way better (this time).

"I feel like nobody expected us to go to state, so I feel like if we work hard we can pull some upsets."

Kramer agrees with his teammates: The victory over Cedar Falls last week should give the J-Hawks a boost in Des Moines.

"It just shows that we can beat anybody, anywhere," he said. "It gave us a lot of confidence, and we're going to go in thinking we can win."

Ankeny has a balanced ballclub, with six players averaging between 5.9 and 11.6 points per game. Cole Myers, a 6-foot-2 senior, is the leading scorer.

Ted Friedman, a 6-9 junior, averages 10.7 points and 6.3 rebounds. Justin Underwood, a 6-4 junior, is the tallest player in Jefferson's lineup, giving Friedman a five-inch advantage in the post.