Most of the people in the packed Iowa City West gym were slightly stunned Friday during halftime. Would there be a new No. 1 boys basketball team in the state by the end of the night?

But when the teams took the court for the second half, the stunner wore off, and top-ranked Iowa City West caught fire.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson put up a valiant effort against the Trojans, but were defeated 48-35 in an MVC matchup.

Jefferson (11-6, 7-5) had a great first half, and led 20-10 at the break. Their floor general, point guard Taylor Olson, led a patient offensive attack that sunk shots when they had the chance. And on the defensive end, the J-Hawks only gave up 10 points to the Trojans.

“In the first half, I thought we showed good patience and made them play defense,” said Jefferson Coach Stu Ordman. “We were able to get some good shots and knock them down and we had the tempo that we wanted for this particular game."

The Trojans (17-0, 12-0) were reeling from the J-Hawks' methodic offense. And Jefferson looked completely comfortable wearing out the Trojans. Frustration was apparent for Iowa City West, after several straight possessions of sitting in a man-to-man defense for minutes on end.

While the spectators sat stunned during halftime, Iowa City West Coach Steve Bergman was undoubtedly politely sharing his thoughts with his players about what they could do better.

And they responded.

Equipped with a smothering full court pressure and a renewed sense of tenacity, West forced several second half turnovers, and flip-flopped Jefferson’s lead in the third quarter.

“We controlled tempo in the first half and we did a nice job of that,” said Ordman.  “But I knew they were going to come and do the run and jump and try to speed us up. And instead of managing that well, we got flustered and had 15 second-half turnovers which probably led to 30 points.”

At the beginning of the third quarter, Jefferson broke its habit of long possessions and scored within the first 10 seconds to go up 22-10. But that would be the last basket it scored for a while.

West star Jeremy Morgan, who was held scoreless in the first half, ran down and nailed a 3-pointer that started a 15-2 run for West.

With 2:40 left in the third quarter, West took back the lead for good when Dondre Alexander muscled up a basket and a foul, making the score 25-24. West outscored Jefferson 20-6 in the third quarter.

At the start of the fourth West was up 30-26, and used the final frame to simply extend and then maintain its lead. The Trojans used the same full court pressure to stymie Jefferson’s offensive procedures, and continued to put the ball in the hole. Morgan, Alexander, and Jacob Gylten pitched in 10 points apiece for West.

Olson led Jefferson with a game-high 12 points.

“The second half their pressure really bothered us and they just sped up the game,” said Ordman.  “And you know, they have some pretty darn good players over there.”

JEFFERSON (35): Taylor Olson 2 8-11 12, Tyler Hemphill 1 0-0 2, Creighton Robinson 3 2-3 8, Alec Saunders 3 1-3 7, Ky Kramer 2 0-0 4, Justin Underwood 1 0-0 2, Jacob Olson 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 11-17 35.

IOWA CITY WEST (48): Jeremy Morgan 4 0-0 10, Dondre Alexander 4 2-3 10, Wyatt Lohaus 3 2-2 8, Myzeah Batie-Gaddy 1 1-1 3, Austin Swank 1 1-1 3, Jacob Gylten 4 2-4 10, Richard Bryant 0 4-4 4, Jason Stewart 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 12-15 48.

Halftime - Jefferson 20, Iowa City West 10. 3-point goals - Jefferson 1 (Robinson), Iowa City West 2 (Morgan 2).