Big 4th Quarter Helps Sioux City East Topple Jefferson
By Jeff Johnson and John Sears
Cedar Rapids Jefferson players and head coach Stu Ordman (far right) in the final minute of the J-Hawks loss to Sioux City East in their 4A quarterfinal game on Wednesday, March 10, 2010, at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
CEDAR RAPIDS - All the banging and crashing done against them. All the size they had to confront inside.
And the thing that doomed the Cedar Rapids Jefferson J-Hawks in their Class 4A state tournament quarterfinal was the 3-point shot. Go figure.
It was a trio of treys that were pivotal as Sioux City East rallied in the fourth quarter to end Jefferson’s season, 51-43, Wednesday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.
“We tried to stop their inside game the whole game,” said Jeff’s Jarrod Uthoff. “Then they hit those outside shots.”
Jefferson (18-5) led 15-2 early, with East (21-3) not taking its first lead until Quenton James nailed a corner 3 with 4:15 left. James hit another one two minutes later to bring his team into a 41-41 tie, then Alex Kleene connected from the top of the key with 1:41 remaining to put the Black Raiders ahead for good, 44-42.
Jefferson was outscored in the final quarter by a 21-9 margin. The J-Hawks had just four points the final 2:44, one field goal, shooting 28.6 percent in the second half.
“We made them take some outside shots,” said Jeff Coach Stu Ordman. “And they hit them.”
“That first quarter was the worst one we’ve had all season,” said East Coach Jeff Vanderloo. “I don’t know if it was them or us. Whatever it was, it was great to see us overcome it because we dug ourselves a hole.”
Ordman pointed to foul trouble as a huge key, too. The 6-8 Uthoff, Jeff’s best player, was limited to 10 minutes and two points in the first half because he picked up three fouls.
Five-foot-10 forward Alec Saunders fouled out in the fourth, leaving a Jeff team undersized to begin with even fewer options to combat 6-11 sophomore banger Adam Woodbury and company. Woodbury finished with a game-high 17 points.
“We played hard,” said Jefferson’s Taylor Olson. “But the foul calls hurt us. We got into a lot of foul problems. But that’s not really an excuse.”
“Trying to stop 6-11 and 6-6, along with their athleticism, that makes it problematic,” Ordman said.
Jefferson got a big game off the bench from unheralded Tyler Meiborg, who finished with 13 points off the bench. He came in averaging 2.8. Olson added 12 points and Uthoff 11.
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