Cedar Rapids Jefferson hosted North Cedar for a non-conference boys basketball game Tuesday night and came away with a rather lackluster 48-37 victory.

“I am not very satisfied with where we are at right now at all,” said Jefferson Coach Stu Ordman. “Our first half was not very good, but we did come out ready to play in the second half and that allowed us to dictate tempo in the fourth quarter.”

The J-Hawks (5-1) managed just 17 points in the first half and only two points in the second quarter. On the positive side, their defense allowed only 15 first-half points.

A solid 31-point second half allowed them to pull away for the victory.

Jefferson guards Jacob Olson and Creighton Robinson probed the stingy North Cedar zone defense all night and took advantage to score 16 and 12 points, respectively.

Olson took the ball to the hoop for five field goals and six of eight free throws. Robinson managed to knock down Jefferson’s only 3-pointers by hitting a pair.

“It’s my job to drive and then dish to whoever comes open, but they let me get to the basket or get fouled tonight,” said Olson. “It helped that we mixed up defenses and did some trapping so we could turn them over and keep them from getting to the basket.”

Olson and Robinson completed each other in the backcourt.

“I can drive to the basket or spot up for a 3-pointer, whatever they give me,” said Robinson. “Our intent was to get their big men in foul trouble and that worked better in the second half than in the first.”

It was a long second quarter for Jefferson.

“We were like a bunch of little mosquitoes out there and that doesn’t leave much margin for error,” said Ordman. “We are missing Layne Sullivan (sprained ankle) and we just got Jake Van Oort back from injury.

So we are still learning what we can do and what we can’t do.

"We have plenty of room for improvement.”

North Cedar (5-2) was led by 6-foot-4 sophomore Jayden Johnson with 15 points, and his defense at the other end limited the offensive success of Jefferson in the paint.

The J-Hawks travel to crosstown rival Washington for a conference matchup Friday.

NORTH CEDAR (37): Kintzel 2 2-2 6, Shedeck 2 0-0 5, Hay 2 1-2 5, Pruess 0 0-0 0, Johnson 6 2-2 15, Hamilton 2 2-2 6, Fields 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 7-8 37.

JEFFERSON (48): Olson 5 6-8 16, Robinson 5 0-0 12, Kramer 3 3-6 9, Larson 3 0-1 6, Floyd 0 0-0 0, Wiederin 0 0-0 0, Jenkins 0 2-2 2, Van Oort 0 1-2 1, Hansen 0 0-0 0, Colbert 0 0-0 0, Grissom 0 0-0 0, Monnahan 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 12-19 48.

Halftime – Jefferson 17, North Cedar 15. 3-point goals – North Cedar 2 (Shedek  1, Johnson 1), Jefferson 2 (Robinson 2). Fouled out – Shedek. Technical foul - North Cedar bench.