Jasper moves into tie with WO-S for third
By GEORGIA PURDY

The Jasper Bulldogs hardly had time to relish their 69-59 triumph over West Orange-Stark last week before falling 64-43 to district leader Hardin- Jefferson. The 'Dogs are once again tied with the WO-S Mustangs for third place at 7- 4.

J a s p e r had trouble penetrating the H a w k s ' d e f e n s e from the beginning, f a l l i n g behind 21- 5 at the end of the first quarter.

"I think that first quarter doomed us," coach Terry Young said. "A 16-point deficit is hard to overcome against a championship caliber team. In fact, we were down by more points in the first quarter than the other quarters combined. Hardin-Jefferson is hard to defend against because of their fundamental skill development. They can hurt the zone because they can shoot and pass the ball well, and they are hard to defend with a man-to-man defense because each player is well developed enough that he can create shot opportunities. They also defend with great intensity and effort."

The Hawks' defense time and again foiled Jasper's shots, sometimes snatching what looked like a sure shot out of the basket.

Jasper posted 17 points in the third quarter, to the Hawks' 18, and scored 13 to 12 in the fourth.

Michael Brewer led the Bulldog shooting effort with nine points, followed by Roman Land, seven, Dominique Bailey, six; D a n t e r i o A n d e r s o n , five; Aaron Garrett, DJ Jackson, and K e i t h Graham had four each.

O n d e f e n s e , Jackson led with six r e b o u n d s ; Garrett and Land had five each. A n d e r s o n deflected the ball 13 times; Brewer, nine; and Bailey, five. Kwame Spikes and Anderson had two steals each.

"I would hope to emulate many of the things they do and I believe our off-season programs will get us there."

The highlight of the week, however, was the victory over arch-rival West Orange-Stark. Dominique Bailey scored a whopping 24 points, followed by Keith Graham, 19.

"This was an awesome team victory," Young said. "Coach Tim Little summed it up when we got home and he put an A+ A+ beside a list of things we wanted to accomplish: Believe, limit offensive rebounds given up, reduce turnovers, make lay-ups, make the free-throws, have four good quarters, and get positive contributions from the bench. Mission accomplished."

The Bulldogs led 14-11 at the end of the first quarter. Both teams hit for 16 points in the second, leaving the 'Dogs up 30-27 at the half. Jasper outscored the Mustangs again in the second half, by three points in the third period and eight in the fourth.

"We played an extended 2-3 zone referred to as the Syracuse 2-3 zone that works well against teams that shoot the three well and have a good center and guards that penetrate," Young said. "Our kids really got up for this game and it showed as we led them or played even throughout the game. Dominique really asserted himself and played like one of the top five players in our district. Keith Graham also had a big night with 19 points. We shot the ball well and made our freethrows."

In addition to Bailey's 24 points, he had three assists, two blocks, four deflections, six defensive rebounds, one loose ball recovery, and five steals.

Graham led the defense with 10 rebounds, two deflections and three steals. Garrett had 10 deflections, five rebounds and one steal.

Land contributed nine points, two assists, one block, one deflection, two rebounds, and two steals. Desmond Smith scored seven points with three assists, two charges drawn, three deflections, three defensive rebounds, and three steals.

The Bulldogs played Silsbee last night and looking for a win in order to remain tied with the Mustangs and force a third place playoff.