Jefferson Boys Basketball

Harrington leads Tigers' sprint past J-Hawks

CEDAR FALLS - Turning down the homestretch of his competitive basketball career, Cedar Falls senior James Harrington is all smiles these days.

Prior to signing a national letter of intent to run track at the University of Alabama on Wednesday, Harrington helped guide the top-scoring offense in Class 4A to a 64-49 win over Cedar Rapids Jefferson Tuesday at Cedar Falls High School.

The two teams will be awarded the top two seeds in substate No. 3, meaning any rematch will be for a berth in the state tournament.

Harrington scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in the first half, while senior classmates Caleb Konieczny and Tony Johnson added 14 and 13, respectively. No. 4-rated Cedar Falls (13-2, 8-2) won its 10th consecutive game by converting 23 of 43 (53.5 percent) shots from the field.

"We have a lot of unselfish players on our team, and I feel like we move the ball pretty good," Harrington said, addressing his team's offense that entered the night averaging 71.1 points a game. "We do have a lot of players that like to score and we're just out here having fun. We're all friends."

Tuesday night, Harrington found himself matched up against Jefferson standout Taylor Olson, whom he has competed against since childhood. Olson scored 10 of his team's first 21 points while the J-Hawks built a slim three-point lead early in the second quarter.

But Olson picked up a third foul on a Konieczny 3-point attempt from the corner with 3:40 remaining and was benched for the remainder of first half.

Konieczny hit all three of his free throw attempts and Cedar Falls closed the half on a 13-2 run to build a 33-25 cushion that Jefferson (11-5, 7-4) was unable to overcome.

The J-Hawks got no closer than six in the second half as Olson missed six consecutive field goal attempts and finished with 12 points. Alec Saunders led Jefferson with 15 points, knocking down five of his team's six second half field goals. But Konieczny drew a charge to hand him his fourth foul before he fouled out with 6 minutes, 56 seconds remaining.

"I think it's tough even with the two guys in the game," Jefferson Coach Stu Ordman said, addressing the fouls that benched Olson and Saunders. "Cedar Falls is a very good team. ... (Cedar Falls) has some size, some quickness and some length they can bring off that bench. They're a formidable opponent."

After a stretch of four games in eight days, Cedar Falls coach Tom Bardal plans to give his team some time to regroup.

"I was happy with our effort, but I think we're a little tired," Bardal said. "You could see it in our legs so we're going to have to take tomorrow off.

"I thought we were maybe a half step slow tonight, but we found a way to win. That's what these kids have done for me all season long is find ways to win and hang in there. I just appreciate their effort all the time."

Bardal said he plans to be there to support Harrington on signing day Wednesday morning. The standout's signature will end what has been a tough decision-making process for one of the most sought after multi-sport recruits in school history.

"(Wednesday) is going to be a real special day. I'm just real happy for him and happy for their family," Bardal said. "There's no question in my mind that he could play college basketball. That's why he had Division I offers. Will I miss seeing him play? Absolutely, I'll miss that, but James is an athlete with multiple Division I offers in three different sports.
He picks track and I'm great with that. He's happy and that's all that matters to me."

As he's enjoying the final chapter of his prep basketball career, Harrington is also excited about what the future holds.

"I can't wait to get down there and start my college track career," Harrington said.

JEFFERSON (49): Alec Saunders 5-8 0-1 15, Creighton Robinson 2-7 0-0 5, Ky Kramer 0-6 0-0 0, Tyler Hemphill 5-7 0-0 12, Taylor Olson 5-13 4-5 14, Justin Underwood 0-0 2-2 2, Austin Goodell 0-4 1-2 1, Jacob Olson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-46 7-10 49.

CEDAR FALLS (64): James Harrington 6-10 6-8 19, Caleb Konieczny 4-9 5-5 14, Kalund Brown 1-5 2-2 4, Isaac Boettger 2-5 2-4 6, Tony Johnson 6-8 0-0 13, Kalehl Brown 4-7 0-0 8, Nick Clark 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-48 15-20 64.

Halftime - Cedar Falls 33, Jefferson 25. 3-point goals - Jefferson 7 (Saunders 4, Hemphill 2, Robinson); Cedar Falls 3 (Harrington, Konieczny, Johnson). Total fouls - Jefferson 20,
Cedar Falls 14. Fouled out - Saunders, Kalehl Brown.

Saints drub J-Hawks with 10 triples

The Xavier Saints have made great strides the last few weeks to become a dangerous basketball team.

They proved it again Saturday night.

Trey Sampson led a balanced attack with 15 points as the Saints dumped Jefferson, 68-50, in a Mississippi Valley Conference makeup game at Jefferson.

The Saints (6-9, 5-5) tossed in ten 3-pointers, including three treys by Sampson. Ben McDermott and Brian Ropp hit two triples and scored 12 points apiece.

Tanner Frazier and Matt Nelson chipped in with eight markers for Xavier.

Taylor Olson led Jefferson (11-4, 7-3) with 15 points. Ky Kramer scored 13 points and Tyler Hemphill added 12.

Xavier led at halftime, 31-20.

XAVIER (68): Sampson 6 0-1 15, Mullin 0 0-0 0, McDermott 4 2-3 12, Ropp 4 2-4 12, Breitbach 0 0-0 0, Frazier 2 3-4 8, Hosch 1 0-2 2, Valentine 1 0-0 3, Clasen 1 1-2 3, Foxhoven 0 0-0 0, Thinnes 0 0-0 0, Schulte 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0-0 0, Mattke 2 0-0 5, Woods 0 0-0 0, Nelson 1 6-10 8. Totals 22 14-26 68.

JEFFERSON (50): Saunders 0 2-2 2, J. Olson 1 0-0 2, Robinson 2 0-0 6, Kramer 4 3-4 13, Hemphill 4 1-3 12, Mueller 0 0-0 0, T. Olson 6 3-4 15, Kearney 0 0-0 0, Sullivan 0 0-0 0, Goodell 0 0-0 0, Underwood 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 9-15 50.

Halftime - Xavier 31, Jefferson 20. 3-point goals - Xavier 10 (Sampson 3, McDermott 2, Ropp 2, Frazier 1, Valentine 1, Mattke 1), Jefferson 7 (Hemphill 3, Kramer 2, Robinson 2). Fouled out - Saunders, Kramer.

J-Hawks race past Warriors, 71-42

Jefferson used an early surge to handle Washington with ease Friday night, 71-42, in a boys basketball game at Jefferson.

The first quarter set the tempo and the second quarter all but put the Warriors away as the J-Hawks pushed their way to a 39-15 lead at halftime.

“We wanted to push the ball. We know we can run,” senior Tyler Hemphill said. “We wanted to mess up what they do and get to our game.”

The J-Hawks (11-3, 7-2) used an aggressive man-to-man defense to pressure the Warrior ball handlers. They troubled the Warriors even more by sending a second defender at the ball after the first pass, or as soon as Washington crossed half court.

“We wanted to try to apply pressure. They are athletic but don’t handle ball pressure well,” Jefferson Coach Stu Ordman said. “They burned us a few times but I thought it worked well.”

Hemphill, who has played with a torn ACL all year, helped the J-Hawks put the pressure on with energetic play.

“Hemphill had a great game,” Ordman said. “He had lots of energy, was quick to the ball, and played really unselfish.”

Jefferson put together big runs early in both of the first two quarters and shut down the Warrior offense by holding them to 15 points on just five field goals.

“It has been common for us,” Warrior Coach Brad Metzger said of the offensive struggles. “It is something we struggle with. That is just the way it is.”

Senior playmaker Taylor Olson led the J-Hawk push with 11 of his game-high 18 points in the first half and distributed the ball well in the second half.

“We have some great guards so we can spread them out,” Hemphill said. “TO finds us and we just do what we do.”

Washington slowed the J-Hawks in the second half with the use of a 1-3-1 zone.

“I was a little upset, we should know how to attack the 1-3-1,” Ordman said. “We got it together, moved the ball well, and TO threw some incredible passes to set guys up.”

After a timeout the J-Hawks settled in as Olson distributed the ball to a variety of teammates and the J-Hawks extended their lead to 30 after the third quarter.

Despite the 1-3-1 slowing down the fast paced, up tempo offense in the second half the J-Hawks were in control from the start and were able to empty the bench in the fourth quarter.

“We did some different things,” Metzger said. “We probably should have done it  (the 1-3-1 zone) from the start.”

The J-Hawks got 17 points from hot handed junior Ky Kramer. Hemphill joined Olson and Kramer in double figures with 14.

“Ky, Alec (Saunders), Crey (Creighton Robinson), TO, Jacob (Olson) can all heat up from the outside,” Ordman said about his shooters' contributions. “It would be nice if we could get them all clicking at the same time down the stretch.”

The Warriors (0-12, 0-10) were led by Cybryan Moa's 13 points.

The Warriors will try to find a win Saturday when they visit Western Dubuque.

The road for the J-Hawks gets tougher from here as they host an improving Xavier team Saturday, followed up with trips to 5th ranked Cedar Falls and top ranked Iowa City West next week.

“The road gets a lot tougher with Xavier, Iowa City West, and Cedar Falls coming up,” Ordman said.

WASHINGTON (42): David Tann 2 2-5 6, Cybryan Moa 5 1-1 13, Jason Oney 2 3-4 8, Peter Holmes 0 0-0 0, Sean Bredl 1 0-1 2, David Rosenthal 2 0-1 4, Austin Bergstrom 0 2-2 2, Paul Nash 0 0-1 0, Sam Bil 0 0-0 0, Brock Butterfield 2 3-5 7, Logan Schulte 0 0-0 0, Zachary Williams 0 0-0 0, Lucas Pint 0 0-2 0. Totals 14 11-22 42.

JEFFERSON (71): Alec Saunders 2 4-4 9, Creighton Robinson 0 2-2 2, Ky Kramer 5 2-5 17, Taylor Olson 6 5-6 18, Tyler Hemphill 4 6-9 14, Justin Underwood 2 2-2 6, Austin Goodell 0 1-2 1, Layne Sullivan 0 0-0 0, Christian Knox 0 0-0 0, Taylor Mueller 1 0-0 3, Jacob Olson 0 0-0 0, Andre Kearney 0 1-2 1, Terrance Taylor 0 0-0 0, Jason Lafler 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 23-32 71.

Halftime – Jefferson 39, Washington 15. 3 point goals – Washington 3 (Moa 2, Oney), Jefferson 8 (Saunders, Kramer 5, T. Olson, Mueller). Total Fouls – Washington 23, Jefferson 22. Fouled Out – Tann.

Olsons lead 'Stu Ball' comeback

In the old Lead Belly (and Peter, Paul and Mary) chain-gang song, “ol’ Stewball was a racehorse.”

As it’s told, “a way up yonder, ahead of them all, came a-dancin’ and a-prancin’ my noble Stewball.”

In the Jefferson boys basketball version of “Stu Ball” – so named by the t-shirt wearing “Stu Cru” student section in honor of Coach Stu Ordman – it’s do-it-all senior Taylor Olson that’s the racehorse of the team.

He’s ahead of them all: scoring, stealing the ball, rebounding, directing the other players, drawing fouls, even blocking shots.

And Tuesday night in a come-from-behind 61-50 home win over Dubuque Wahlert, Olson also served as on-court coach and counselor for his little brother Jacob when he took over as point guard.

“Taylor had another outstanding game,” said Ordman afterward. “He’s a magician with the ball. He made eight of 10 shots. He played great defense on (Wahlert’s) Riley McCarron, who’s super tough.

“He’s extremely versatile, so we put him in positions where he can do the most damage.

“And we can always count on Taylor to know what the game plan is and be able to execute it. He’s got a very high basketball IQ.”

Ordman’s gang utilized all of Olson’s skills and savvy as they overcame a four-point halftime deficit to blow out Wahlert in the third quarter and cruised the rest of the way.  For the night, Taylor totaled 24 points on 80 percent shooting (including one 3-pointer) and seven of 10 free throws when the visitors were forced to foul. He also led his team with seven rebounds.

Doing much of the ball-handling, his only turnover of the game came when he made a wild half-court out-of-bounds pass late in the fourth quarter.  He played point guard when the team needed to settle down.  Then he moved down low into the middle, making nifty spin moves to the rim or kicking out to teammates on the perimeter.

“My job on offense is to kind of control the game.” explained the senior Olson.  “We knew they’d play a zone, and at the start we swung the ball around too much and struggled getting the ball inside.

“When Coach put me down in the middle I was able to get some drives and set up shots for some of the other guys.”

The strategy worked to perfection.

After the Golden Eagles soared to a 14-2 jump start, the J-Hawks responded with an 11-0 run marked by an Olson 3-pointer, three jump shots by Ky Kramer and a lay-up on a steal by speedy Creighton Robinson.

Ordman said he wasn’t happy with his team’s defense in the first half.

Throughout the game, Wahlert had only three scoring threats.  And too often early on, McCarron along with Jake May (Hawkeye Eric May’s younger brother) and Nate Burks were able to bound inside for follow-up baskets.

“I thought our defense picked up in the third quarter,” Ordman said. “And we started moving the ball a lot better.”

Combine the two, and Jefferson put together a 14-1 surge during a five-minute stretch after the half and went ahead 43-33 by the end of the quarter.  Taylor Olson accounted for eight of his team’s points in the comeback.

Much of the time when he was directing the action from the middle, his sophomore brother Jacob was handed the point guard responsibilities.

“I was a little nervous,” the younger one said. “But Taylor kept talking to me, telling me to stay calm and supporting me. He was looking out for me.

“I’ve always looked up to him.”

For his part, big brother thought Jacob did fine, hitting a 3-pointer of his own and committing only a couple of turnovers.

“He’s been playing basketball all of his life,” Taylor said. “We trust him out there. He knows what he’s doing. He’s a good ball player.”

With that, the Olson boys pranced away together.

DUBUQUE WAHLERT (50): Riley McCarron 4 3-4 13, Brady Williams 0 0-0 0, Jake May 6 5-7 20, Nate Burks 5 3-4 14, John Burgmeier 0 0-0 0, Sam Koenig 1 1-3 3, Connor Krueger 0 0-0 0, Josh Tranel 0 0-0 0, Chad Heidesch 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 12-18 50.

JEFFERSON (61): Alec Saunders 1 2-2 4, Creighton Robinson 2 1-2 6, Ky Kramer 5 2-2 12, Tyler Hemphill 1 2-3 4, Taylor Olson 8 7-10 24, Jacob Olson 1 1-2 4, Justin Underwood 2 3-3 7. Totals 20 18-24 61.

Halftime – Wahlert 26, Jefferson 22. 3-point goals – Wahlert 6 (McCarron 2, May 3, Burks), Jefferson 3 (J.Olson, Robinson, T.Olson). Total fouls – Wahlert 20, Jefferson 16. Fouled out – none. Technical foul – Jefferson bench.