There have been some outstanding point guards in the Metro area in recent years with Marcus Paige, Wes Washpun and Taylor Olson.

Jacob Olson is making a strong push this season to make it a foursome.

Olson poured in a career-high 31 points Friday night to steer Jefferson past Washington, 57-36, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game in the Washington gym.

Olson kept the J-Hawks in the game in the first half when nobody else was scoring and dazzled the Warriors all night with his quick moves, soft tear-drops and clever drives to the basket.

"He was really, really good," said Washington Coach Adam Sanchez, whose club was powerless to stop him. "You saw everything he could do tonight.

"He got to the rim, he got guys open. He controlled the game with the ball in his hands, and it's hard to keep it out of his hands because he's the first guy who touches it."

Paige starred at Linn-Mar and is the starting point guard for the North Carolina Tar Heels this year as a freshman. Washpun starred at Washington, spent one season at Tennessee and is taking a redshirt year at Northern Iowa. Taylor Olson - Jacob's older brother - starred at Jefferson and is the starting point guard at Kirkwood Community College as a freshman.

Paige, Washpun and Taylor Olson made a variety of all-state teams during their prep careers. Olson, just a junior, is averaging 18.6 points and knocking on the door.

Jefferson Coach Stu Ordman thinks his budding star has a chance to join the conversation about elite point guards.

"I hope he will," the coach said. "Nobody is exactly like anybody else."

Ordman said the key to Olson joining the list will be his continued development as an all-around player who encourages his teammates, excels in practice and becomes a verbal leader, as well as leading by example.

Olson hit 12 of 17 shots from the field Friday and canned seven of eight free throws.

"He had an outstanding offensive performance, and actually his defense was pretty good tonight, too," said Ordman. "He can really make clever plays. He has a high basketball IQ."

Olson learned the game by watching his older brother and by trying to emulate him. They were teammates at Jefferson, but now the ball belongs to the kid brother.

"Yeah, it's fun running the team," he said. "I'm excited now.

"I'm trying. I do my best. I just want to be like my brother."

Jefferson lists Olson at 5-foot-11, but that's a stretch. "I'm 5-10," he confessed, smiling. "5-9 and 3/4."

Olson kept the J-Hawks (6-2, 3-1) in the game in the first half when none of his teammates could buy a bucket. Washington led at halftime, 20-19, and at that point Olson had 14 of his team's 19 points.

Creighton Robinson, who scored only two points in the first half, collected 13 points in the second half to help Jefferson grab the lead and pull away. Once Olson and Robinson began clicking at the same time, the J-Hawks took control.

Robinson hit a 3-pointer to give Jefferson the lead for good at 24-22. He made a layup and hit another 3-pointer to give the J-Hawks a 31-25 advantage. The lead grew to 38-27 after three quarters on a three-point play by Olson.

The Washington Warriors (1-5, 1-3) got their only victory of the season last Friday by topping Kennedy 53-50, and for 16 minutes it looked like they might have enough juice to knock off the J-Hawks as well.

"We did everything we put down on paper," said Sanchez, the first-year coach at Washington. "We followed the plan that we talked about prior to the game and did some really good stuff. We're going in the right direction.

"Against Kennedy we did it for 32 minutes. Tonight we did it for 16."

Heath Clark led the Warriors with 10 points.

JEFFERSON (57): Olson 12 7-8 31, Robinson 6 0-0 15, Kramer 2 2-2 7, Monnahan 0 0-0 0, Van Oort 0 2-2 2, Wiederin 0 0-0 0, Colbert 0 0-0 0, Larson 1 0-1 2, Floyd 0 0-0 0, Wise 0 0-0 0, Waltmann 0 0-0 0, Grisson 0 0-0 0, Konigsmark 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 11-13 57.

WASHINGTON (36): Anderson 0 0-0 0, Butterfield 2 1-2 7, Taylor 1 0-0 2, Rosenthal 2 0-0 4, Holmes 1 0-4 2, Oney 1 0-0 2, Severson 1 0-0 3, Burdt 0 0-0 0, Soenksen 0 0-0 0, Harriott 00-0 0, Newman 0 0-0 0, Clark 4 2-2 10, Nelson 0 2-2 6. Totals 14 3-9 36.

Halftime - Washington 20, Jefferson 19. 3-point goals - Jefferson 4 (Robinson 3, Kramer 1), Washington 5 (Nelson 2, Butterfield 2, Severson 1).