Jefferson Boys Basketball

J-Hawks work it out with Olson inside

Taylor Olson scored 23 of his game-high 28 points in the second half and Jefferson held off a game Washington, 68-52, Friday night in a Mississippi Valley Conference boys basketball game at Washington.

Winless Washington (0-5, 0-3) put up a good battle until about the 5-minute mark of the fourth quarter. That's when Olson took over for the unbeaten J-Hawks (6-0, 3-0).

Olson made 13 free throws in the second half. He moved from the perimeter where he usually is the J-Hawks' point guard, to a high post in the second half. That gave him the opportunities he needed to take the ball to the basket and draw the fouls that put him on the line.

“In the first half I was playing a little more on the perimeter but in the second half I was doing more post up stuff and I got fouled a lot more,” explained Olson.  “In the second half, their zone kind of bothered the up-tempo style we like to play, but we settled in and we were just fine.”

Jefferson Coach Stu Ordman said Olson is a multitalented player who can make the transition inside and out.

“Taylor finds a way to be effective and comes he seems to always come up with the play when we need it,” said Ordman.  “He makes everyone around him a better player; he’s just a special kid.”

In the first half Jefferson used an aggressive, trapping half court defense to create turnovers and take a comfortable 34-24 halftime lead.

But the disruptive defense put the J-Hawks in some foul trouble and that foul trouble gave the Warriors the breathing space they needed to launch a challenge that saw them
get back to within two points. But they never quite overcame the Jefferson lead.

“We got down and really battled back,” said Washington Coach Brad Metzger.  “Then it really disappointed me that we lost our composure and let the game get away from us.  We have been progressing at both ends of the court each game, but not enough.”

Alec Saunders was the beneficiary of Jefferson’s aggressive first half defense and led Jefferson with nine points at the break. But foul trouble limited his playing time in the second half.  He finished with 15 points.

“We love to make the other team scramble to disrupt their offense and create turnovers,” said Saunders.  “We took advantage of that in the first half.”

Jefferson was playing a little short-handed on the bench. Creighton Robinson missed his third straight game because of injury and the J-Hawks got a little thin when Saunders and Tyler Hemphill fouled out.

“We were playing without some kids because of injuries tonight so those fouls were a problem for us once they began mounting up,” said Ordman. “But we got through it.”

Washington was led in scoring by David Tann with 13 points and Jason Oney was also in double figures with 10.

Next up for Jefferson is a non-conference game at North Cedar on Tuesday night.

Washington is idle until after the holiday break.

JEFFERSON (68): Saunders 6 3-7 15, Kramer 3 0-0 7, Hemphill 4 0-1 9, T.Olson 7 14-21 28, Underwood 3 2-4 8, J.Olson 0 1-2 1, Sullivan 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 20-35 68.

WASHINGTON (52): Tann 3 6-10 13, Butterfield 1 0-0 3, Moa 3 0-0 8, Holmes 4 0-1 9, Bredl 1 1-2 3, Oney 3 3-4 10, Nash 2 0-2 4, Bergstrom 0 0-0 0, Anderson 0 0-0 0, Clark 1 0-0 2, Kramer 0 0-0 0, Bil 0 0-0 0, Rosenthal 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 10-19 52.

Halftime — Jefferson 34 Washington 24. 3-point goals — Jefferson 2 (Kramer 1, Hemphill 1)  Washington 6 (Tann 1, Butterfield 1, Moa 2, Holmes 1, Oney 1).  Fouled out -- Saunders, Hemphill.

Fast start fuels J-Hawks' cruise past Hempstead

Jefferson started out strong Tuesday night, using a trapping man-to-man defense to force seven Dubuque Hempstead turnovers and building a 15-2 lead after one quarter.

But it was the way the J-Hawks finished that had Jeffersonn Coach Stu Ordman and his braintrust scratching their collective heads after the game.

Jefferson cruised to a 52-35 win in a Mississippi Valley Conference boys basketball game at the J-Hawk gym. Senior Taylor Olson scored 21 points and junior Ky Kramer had 12.

Ordman said he liked the defensive pressure the J-Hawks (5-0, 2-0) put on Hempstead (0-4, 0-2) to start the game. The Mustangs turned the ball over four times before they got their first shot off and made only 1 of 7 shots in the period.

"We came out with good intensity defensively in the first quarter, and I was pleased with that, but then we dropped way off and couldn't get it back for the rest of the game," Ordman said. "I was disappointed with that."

Kramer said he could understand Ordman's disappointment, especially because of the premium the J-Hawks place upon defense.

"That's our main point in this program," said Kramer, who also grabbed nine rebounds. "We just need to keep our intensity up all game."

After building the 13-point margin, Hempstead never got closer than nine points the rest of the game. The J-Hawks led 29-17 at halftime and 40-23 after three quarters.

"I think we had a great start and then we kind of relaxed," said Olson, who scored eight points in the first quarter. "We got on our heels and kind of got nervous."

Jefferson shot 41 percent from the field, but took 18 more shots than Hempstead. The J-Hawks also held the Mustangs to 36 percent shooting.

It was Jefferson's offense that concerned Ordman most.

"I didn't think we moved the ball very well," Ordman said. "And I wasn't very pleased with out shot selection. I didn't think we did a very good job of reading what they were doing defensively."

Jefferson plays at Washington on Friday in a girl-boy doubleheader that starts at 6 p.m.

"We're going to make runs and Washington is going to make runs, so we have to handle that better than we did tonight," Olson said.

HEMPSTEAD (35): Jake Weber 4 5-10 13, Josh Viertel 1 1-2 4, Josh Dolson 3 0-0 8, Ben Goerdt 0 0-0 0, Mike Canfield 0 0-1 0, Jon Hermsen 3 0-0 6, Shawn Breitbach 1 2-2 4, Kevin Thurmon 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 8-15 35.

JEFFERSON (52): Ky Kramer 5 0-0 12, Tyler Hemphill 3 0-1 6, Taylor Olson 9 3-5 21, Alec Saunders 2 2-2 6, Justin Underwood 2 1-2 5, Jacob Olson 1 0-0 2, Layne Sullivan 0 0-0 0, Austin Goodell 0 0-0 0, Taylor Mueller 0 0-1 0. Totals 22 6-11 52.

Halftime -- Jefferson 29, Hempstead 17. 3-point goals -- Hempstead 3 (Dolson 2, Viertel), Jefferson 2 (Kramer 2). Total fouls -- Hempstead 17, Jefferson 18. Fouled out -- None.

Taylor Olson does it all for J-Hawks

Taylor Olson is making the game of basketball look too easy.

Points, assists, steals, rebounds. Inside, outside. Left hand, right hand. You name, and the 6-foot-1 senior is doing it for the undefeated Jefferson J-Hawks.

Olson performed more of his magic Saturday night with 24 points, 7 steals, 5 rebounds and 4 assists as the J-Hawks squashed Marion, 63-26, at Jefferson.

"It's fun out there. It's real fun," Olson said after the J-Hawks raised their record to 4-0. "I love this game and I love playing with this team."

It was Jarrod Uthoff's team last year. Now Olson has become the main man for the J-Hawks and he's flourishing as a point guard who can fill up a boxscore.

"I think the highest compliment I can give a player -- he makes everybody else on the court better. And that is definitely Taylor Olson," said Jefferson Coach Stu Ordman. "He's very special that way."

Olson is averaging 22 points, 5.5 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 3.8 steals and shooting 58.1 percent. Jefferson has won three of its games by 23, 37 and 41 points, so Olson has posted big numbers despite early exits from games.

Olson retired for good Saturday night with 6 minutes, 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter. At the time, he had personally outscored Marion 24-23.

Olson played in Uthoff's shadow last season, but he also played the second half of the year with a torn muscle in his back. He missed three weeks and operated at about 70 to 75 percent when he returned.

Ordman said Olson played with courage last year. Now he's playing at full strength and playing extremely well.

"He's a student of the game. And he's very coachable," Ordman said. "He's finding the weaknesses on other teams and exploiting them and taking some pride in his defense."

Ordman enjoyed working with Uthoff last season, because the 6-foot-8 prep All-American was always working to improve.

"The same thing with Taylor," said Ordman. "He's a high-character guy and he'll be open to suggestions. He's real good about that. He's a special person."

Olson showed he's also a good brother Saturday. There was a point midway through the third quarter when Jacob Olson, a sophomore, was waiting at the scorer's table to come into the game for his big brother. Taylor Olson came over and offered a few words of advice.

"I knew he'd be nervous. Because when I was younger on the varsity, I was obviously nervous," said Olson. "So I just tried to calm him down and tell him to be a leader.

"I told him that he's fine. He's played a million games in his life and this is just another game."

Jacob Olson got additional playing time Saturday in the backcourt because Creighton Robinson is sidelined with an injury. The younger Olson contributed to the victory with five points.

Ky Kramer hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 points for the J-Hawks. Alec Saunders contributed eight points.

Brenden Landuyt led Marion (2-3) with nine points.

Olson said Division I colleges are recruiting him more aggressively now, with Coppin State, South Dakota, Florida Gulf Coast and Texas Pan-American among them. "I'd like to think it will pick up even more," he said.

"We'll just see," he said. "I'm waiting until after the season (to make a decision)."

Ordman has enjoyed watching Olson's growth as a player and hopes he finds a good spot to play in college.

"He's tougher than a two-dollar steak," said Ordman. "Some coach is going to be very lucky to have him."

MARION (26): Landuyt 3 2-2 9, Frazier 2 1-2 5, Gunderson 2 0-0 4, Cannoy 0 0-0 0, Huhndorf 0 0-0 0, Davis 1 3-3 5, McDonald 0 0-4 0, Buckley 1 0-0 3, Hedtke 0 0-0 0, Storla 0 0-0 0, Connolly 0 0-0 0, Wheeler 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 6-11 26.

JEFFERSON (63): Saunders 3 2-2 8, Kramer 4 0-0 11, T. Olson 10 4-4 24, Hemphill 1 0-0 3, Underwood 1 2-2 4, J. Olson 2 0-0 5, Goodell 2 0-0 4, Sullivan 0 0-0 0, Mueller 1 0-0 2, Eggers 0 0-0 0, Taylor 0 0-0 0, Lafler 0 0-0 0, Knox 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 8-8 63.

Halftime - Jefferson 40, Marion 18. 3-point goals - Marion 2 (Landuyt, Buckley), Jefferson 5 (Kramer 3, Hemphill, J. Olson).

J-Hawks down City High at the stripe, 59-55

IOWA CITY -- The varsity game between Cedar Rapids Jefferson and Iowa City High Friday night had a lot to live up to after the double-overtime thriller played in the sophomore game.

The J-Hawk sophomores lost by three and the upperclassmen wanted to reverse course. But it took an intense game as well. The varsity contest didn’t quite go to bonus periods, but it proved to keep the crowd buzzing.

Jefferson took its first lead of the game with five minutes left and won a tight contest, 59-55, in an early season MVC matchup at the Iowa City High gym.

Led by senior guard Taylor Olson, with a game-high 19 points, the J-Hawks owned the last half of the fourth quarter and iced away the win at free throw line.

“I thought we settled down a bit in the second half and were able to work the ball and get better shots,” said Jefferson Coach Stu Ordman.  “We also toughened up a little bit on the defensive end.”

Jefferson (3-0, 1-0) trailed 28-20 at the half, and couldn’t find rhythm on the offensive end. A stout City High player rotation contributed to the J-Hawks’ first half struggles. City High set the tempo physically, with the likes of Ronald Washington, Cortez Barfield, Jasper Washington, Jeremy Johnson and Tony Perry (all Little Hawk football talents).

“They were killing us on the boards and with their penetration and they were kind of throwing us around like rag dolls,” said Ordman.  “They are a really strong, athletic team, and I thought we lost our cool a bit and ended up turning the ball over and rushed our offense.”

But the J-Hawks came out in the second half and found their groove, and so did Olson.

“I thought he had a really good second half, the first half he was off his game a little bit. I would attribute that to City High’s defense,” said Ordman.  “But I thought he was able to understand a little better what he needed to do and let the game come to him. But he sure is competitive.”

Jefferson remained close throughout the second half, going back and forth with City High. Then, with 4:21 remaining in the game, Jefferson’s Alec Saunders hit a 3-pointer to knot the game at 50. After a defensive stop, Olson tipped in a missed shot to give the J-Hawks their first lead, 52-50.

City High (0-1, 2-1) knotted the score again at 52 when Barfield barreled through the lane for a layup.

Jefferson won the game at the stripe. Saunders and Olson went a combined 7-of-8 at the line in the final two minutes to put the game out of reach.

“I thought we got into a lot of scoring situations, some we handled better than others, but the guys never quit and played hard and made some key plays,” said Ordman.

Jefferson hosts Marion Saturday evening at 6:30.

JEFFFERSON (59): Taylor Olson 6 7-12 19, Tyler Hemphill 2 1-2 5, Alec Sanuders 4 4-4 13, Ky Kramer 3 2-2 10, Justin Underwood 2 3-7 7, Creighton Robinson 2 0-0 5, Austin Goodell 0 0-0 0.  Totals 19 17-27 59.

IOWA CITY HIGH (55): Tony Perry 4 0-0 10, Cortez Barfield 3 0-0 6, Andrew Hein 0 0-0 0, Ronald Thompson 4 2-4 10, Alex Perry 4 0-0 8, Jerel Moore 7 0-2 18, Jasper Washington 1 0-0 2, Jeremy Johnson 0 1-2 1.  Totals 17 3-7 55.

Halftime- City High 28, Jefferson 20.  3-point goals- Jefferson 4 (Kramer 2, Saunders 1, Robinson 1)  ICH 6 (Moore 4, T. Perry 2).