The Jefferson J-Hawks staged a strong rally Friday night before falling to Dubuque Senior, 48-47, in a Mississippi Valley Conference boys basketball game at Jefferson.

The J-Hawks trailed by 11 points at intermission, 31-20, before storming back and falling a point short.

Dennis McKinney scored 11 points for Jefferson (3-7). James Brown had 10 points.

Carter Stevens and Matt Hendricks scored 13 points apiece for Dubuque Senior (6-3).

JEFFERSON (47): Webb 2 0-0 4, Shaw 0 0-0 0, Wiederin 0 0-0 0, Green 2 1-2 5, Kramer 1 2-2 5, Brown 5 0-2 10, McCauley 2 0-0 4, Van Oort 4 0-0 8, Szabo 0 0-0 0, McKinney 5 0-0 11. Totals 21 3-8 47.

DUBUQUE SENIOR (48): Noel 3 0-0 6, Stevens 4 4-5 13, Link 1 0-0 2, Psihoyos 0 0-0 0, Humpal-Griffin 1 1-5 3, Timmerman 4 0-1 11, Hendricks 5 2-2 13, Carter 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 7-16 48.

Halftime - Dubuque Senior 31, Jefferson 20. 3-point goals - Dubuque 5 (Timmerman 3, Stevens 1, Hendricks 1), Jefferson 2 (Kramer 1, McKinney 1).