Jefferson Boys Basketball

Metro stars shooting on state stage

High school basketball fans in the Metro area have been treated to something very special in local gyms this season, something they may never see again.

Jarrod Uthoff, Josh Oglesby, Marcus Paige, Wes Washpun, Matt Bohannon. Remember those names.

All five of them will play Division I college basketball at a high level. There could be a Mr. Basketball (or two) in the group, and there might be a couple of NBA players.

It's been a special season, and the best part of the campaign begins this week with the Class 4A boys state tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Uthoff has Cedar Rapids Jefferson in the field. Oglesby and Washpun have led Cedar Rapids Washington back to Des Moines. Paige and Bohannon have top-ranked Linn-Mar looking for another state title.

All five of those players and their schools played in the state tournament last year. None of them came home with the grand prize, but Linn-Mar is the No.1 seed and the favorite this time around.

It starts Wednesday.

Linn-Mar (23-0) faces Washington (17-8) in an all-Metro opener at 1:45 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena. Jefferson (17-5) plays Des Moines Hoover (21-2) in the nightcap at 8:15 p.m.

The semifinals are Friday, with the finals and consolation game for third place on Saturday.

All three Metro schools have won state titles before. Washington claimed championships in 1914, 1916 and 1922 - before the IHSAA began sanctioning the tournaments - and prevailed again in 1969. Jefferson was the state champion in 1967, while Linn-Mar has captured titles in 1983, 2004 and 2007.

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J-Hawks escape and are off to state

CEDAR FALLS -- The collective "Phew" could be heard all the way back to the west side of Cedar Rapids Tuesday night.

The Jefferson boys basketball team is going back to the state tournament for the ninth time in school history.

Barely. Sparingly. Nervously.

It was eighth-ranked Jefferson 57, underdog Waterloo West 55 in the Class 4A substate finals at the McLeod Center on the University of Northern Iowa campus. And "Phew" doesn't begin to describe how the J-Hawks escaped.

Jefferson (17-5) will face third-ranked Des Moines Hoover (21-2) in the opening round of the state tournament on Wednesday, March 9 at 8:15 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

DiMarco Mallett missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer Tuesday night that would have given Waterloo West (9-15) an improbable trip to the state tournament with a losing record.

"We kept saying, 'Give ourselves a chance, Give ourselves a chance,' and we did," said Waterloo West Coach Justin Little. "We had a shot. It looked good to me and it just missed."

Jarrod Uthoff and his long arms bothered Mallett just enough on the final shot of this tense chess match. The J-Hawks whipped Waterloo West by 30 points in January at Waterloo West, but the Wahawks upset Cedar Falls in the substate semifinals last Friday and were hungry for more.

"It was kind of ripe for an upset," said Jefferson Coach Stu Ordman. "They had nothing to lose."

On the other hand, Jefferson had everything to lose.

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Saunders hustles J-Hawks into substate final

If Jarrod Uthoff is Iowa’s “Mr. Basketball”, then Alec Saunders should get votes for the “Mr. Hustle Award.” If there is such a thing.

The No. 8-ranked Jefferson J-Hawks got a stellar 27-point, 15-rebound performance from MVP-candidate Uthoff and a blue-collar-lunch-bucket display from Saunders to defeat a pesky Western Dubuque team, 60-50, in a Class 4A substate semifinal at Jefferson High School Friday night.

Jefferson (16-5) plays Waterloo West (9-14) Tuesday night at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls in the substate final for the right to go to the state tournament. Waterloo West upset Cedar Falls, 52-49, Friday night.

Saunders drained two 3-pointers and had 11 points, three steals and three assists, including a number of outstanding “effort plays” that won’t show up in the boxscore.

“I try and get out and beat everyone down the floor,” the 5-foot-11 junior said. “I try and lead everyone else to get more pumped up.”

Saunders said Uthoff is the best player in the state.

“I look up to him and try to be like him,” he said. “I think he is the best.”

A panel of newspaper writers from around the state will cast votes for the Mr. Basketball Award following the state tournament. Uthoff is a leading candidate.

Saunders and the J-Hawks have their sights set on more than just winning their next game.

“I think we can win it all,” Saunders said. “With the amount of talent we have with Uthoff and him getting the ball and then kicking it out, I think we can win state.”

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Uthoff leads J-Hawks past Prairie

Jarrod Uthoff scored 25 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked five shots to lead No. 10 Jefferson past stubborn Prarie, 50-41, Thursday night in the J-Hawks' regular season finale at Prairie.

The final score was much closer than anticipated, although the J-Hawks (15-5, 11-5 MVC) were coming into the game off a hard-fought loss to No. 1 Linn-Mar on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Prairie was trying to end a 10-game losing streak.  The Hawks (3-17, 2-13) get another chance to snap the skid Friday night when they host Dubuque Hempstead in a makeup game to end the regular season.

Despite not scoring until the 4:20 mark of the first quarter, Prairie hung tough with Jefferson in the first half. The first quarter ended with Jefferson holding an 8-6 lead and the J-Hawks' margin was 23-17 at halftime.

Uthoff, the state's leading scorer with a 26 point average, was held scoreless in the opening frame, attempting but one shot. 

Talking about the way they came out, Prairie junior Jacob Aune said, “We definitely executed our game plan. We knew Jarrod was going to get his points. What we didn’t execute on were the turnovers towards the end of the game. The goal is to value every possession and make every possession count.”

Uthoff scored 10 points in the second quarter.

“We started to pound the ball inside with the height advantage. We ran more of our sets to look inside” said Uthoff.

Jefferson pounded the ball to Uthoff to start the second half, building a 29-17 lead. Even though he was being double- and triple-teamed, Uthoff was still able to battle for 11 points in the third quarter.

Prairie was able to connect from the outside to keep the game close, but in the end Jefferson was able to control the ball to hold on for the win.

Alec Saunders added 10 points for Jefferson and sophomore Ky Kramer had seven. Junior point guard Taylor Olson added four assists and appears to be regaining his strength and high level of play that he exhibited prior to a back injury that sidelined him for several weeks.

Aune led Prairie with 13 points. The Hawks’ leading scorer, Matt MacDougall, was held to two points. 

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