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.