And while there have been a few low points – a blowout loss at the hands of Hillsboro at the JCAA Shootout and a pair of setbacks to St. Vincent – head coach Sean Breeze and senior Easton Null appear to have found a compatibility that’s helped the Blue Jays, who are in the midst of a four-game winning streak that’s pushed their record to 12-6.
In a rousing home boys-girls doubleheader on Friday, Jefferson’s boys blew Herculaneum’s doors off 85-32 in a Jefferson County Activities Association small-schools division game. In the girls game, the Blackcats toppled the Blue Jays 63-44.
“The defense is starting to work, but more than that the kids are finally getting comfortable with me and each other,” said Breeze, who arrived at Jefferson in the offseason after a decade at Crystal City. “I thought the Herky game was our best at sharing the ball. We’ve gotten better the last few weeks at finding the open guy.”
After staking a 12-4 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Blue Jays, who are 1-1 in league play, really got down to business in the second and third where they combined to score a game’s worth of points (58).
“Unfortunately for Herky, everything was going right for us and we got on a run and it’s like a runaway train, generating offense from the defense,” Breeze said.
Jefferson hosts the Hoops for Hope games annually to raise money and awareness for families dealing with cancer. The gym is always bursting at the seams, the band plays extra loudly and the Blue Jays feed off of the intensity. Breeze has experienced the atmosphere from the other side and said he likes where he is now.
“The crowd was enormous and it was a great atmosphere,” Breeze said. “We hadn’t come out with that kind of energy in a game, but we were ready to play from the jump ball.
“As an opposing coach, that gym is very loud. The community gives great support. It gets so loud the kids can’t hear me.”
Null has scored fewer than 10 points just once this season (with nine against Hillsboro) and led the Blue Jays with 25 against the Blackcats. Null’s season-high for points was 34 against Christian Academy of Greater St. Louis on Dec. 28. He made six 3-point baskets against Herculaneum.
“The kids didn’t force shots and Easton was waiting for the open pass and taking shots,” Breeze said. “When Easton is spotting up on an open shot, I’ll take that every time.”
Jefferson junior forward Jon Weik (6-4) made 9 of 11 shots from the field and registered 19 points against the Blackcats. Weik also had three steals, five rebounds and three blocks. Many of Weik’s baskets were scored driving the lane.
“He’s really getting good at using his body,” Breeze said. “He’s developing a baby hook shot and it’s tough for anybody to block. He’s really started working inside for me a bit. He’s really improved his offense down low.”
Junior Levi Ebersoldt has been giving the Blue Jays quality minutes around the rim and he pulled down nine rebounds Friday to go along with six points. Breeze said Ebersoldt’s gritty play has largely gone unnoticed.
“I don’t think Levi gets as much credit because a lot of what he does doesn’t end up on the stats page,” Breeze said. “He’s our muscle inside. His main contribution is defense and work on the boards.”
Wins against Arcadia Valley (67-51) and West County (61-50) came during the Blue Jays’ current winning streak and are good markers of their improvement.
“Both teams get up and down the floor and they’ve both beaten some good teams this year,” Breeze said. “Against Arcadia Valley we kept them out of the lane. West County was a weird game. We were losing into the fourth quarter and the kids finally settled down and we finally got a win. The last four games (including a 68-35 triumph over Bayless on Jan. 16) have been huge. All of the games from now on are huge with district seed meetings coming up (Feb. 5).”
Jefferson is in Class 3 District 3 with Arcadia Valley, Herculaneum and West County.
Before Friday’s game, Herculaneum (3-10, 0-1) hadn’t played since beating Crossroads College Prep 53-51 on Jan. 4. Blackcats head coach Jason Jarvis said the layoff’s effects were obvious.
“It’s showed. (Jefferson) defeated us in every aspect of the game,” Jarvis said. “They outrebounded us, outhustled us, played better defense, offense, you name it.”
Jarvis said he wasn’t upset at his team’s play until halftime loomed.
“Our defense was terrible and our effort wasn’t there in the second quarter or the rest of the game,” he said.
Senior Blake Leathers and junior Tyler Ruder led the Blackcats with eight points each against the Blue Jays.
Herky girls upend Blue Jays
The Herculaneum girls ran head coach Riley Blair’s defensive game plan almost to perfection as the Blackcats beat the Blue Jays in the opener of the girls-boys twin bill.
“We really executed defensively and were able to slow them down in transition,” said Blair, who credited Bill and Andrea Hammock for their efforts in organizing the Hoops for Hope event. “As for the Herculaneum Blackcats, we are truly honored to be part of this great event.”
Sophomore forward Paige Fowler notched a double-double for Herculaneum (9-7, 1-0) with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Fowler is just under a double-double for the season while averaging 15.1 points and 9.1 rebounds.
“Paige is doing some great things for us on the offensive end and has really put a lot of time in the offseason to take her game to the next level,” Blair said.
Junior guard Taylor Metcalf scored 14 points against Jefferson (10-7, 1-1) and she led her team with eight steals. Metcalf is still recovering from a shoulder injury earlier this season.
Blair said his team is starting to play its best basketball at precisely the right time.
“Our strength of schedule this year has really helped us and I think will really help us down the stretch,” he said. “When we play defense like we did tonight, we will be competing with teams night in and night out.”
Abi Chipps and Jenna Courtois led the Blue Jays with 11 points apiece. Catryn Cattoor grabbed a team-high nine boards for Jefferson.
“We had a rough night shooting the ball, even though we got decent looks when we took care of it,” Jefferson head coach Brandon Joines said. “They definitely got their post presence rolling, which freed up their perimeter shots. Now we have to pick ourselves up and try to close the final month of the regular season in a positive way.”
Harlow takes charge inside the paint for Eagles
Hailey Harlow has the size and skill to play college basketball.
Just ask Grandview girls basketball coach Steve Noblitt, who told the junior forward just that before the season began.
“Hailey’s not a late bloomer, but I sat down with her and said to her, ‘If you want to, you could play at the next level,’” said Noblitt, the Eagles’ first-year coach. “She doesn’t realize what her upside is. She’s a tough matchup. She’s quick and a good athlete. With her, it’s about believing in herself.”
One look at Harlow’s scoring totals is enough to get a good idea of what Noblitt sees. She’s averaged 20 points over the last three games for Grandview, which has won four of its last five games and is 9-7 this season.
In a Jefferson County Activities Association small-schools division matchup against Crystal City on Jan. 17, the Hornets didn’t have an answer for Harlow inside and she led the host Eagles to a 54-29 victory with 19 points, 14 rebounds and five assists.
“If she played 18 minutes (against Crystal City), I’d be surprised. She scored mostly layups,” Noblitt said. “I’d hate to play without her now. Crystal couldn’t match up. We were pretty balanced.”
Senior guard Kaylyn Sparks complemented Harlow by making all five of her shots from the field and scoring 12 points to go along with seven rebounds, six assists and five steals.
In a 41-31 loss to North County last month, Sparks had to get several stitches over an eye after taking an errant elbow.
Noblitt knows how gritty Sparks is on the hardwood.
“If it’s on the floor, it’s hers,” Noblitt said. “She’s got a little nasty to her. I had a long talk with her and she thought her role was to score more. I told her to get more people involved and be a floor leader. If she’s our leading scorer, we’re not winning much.”
Harlow, Sparks, juniors Sarra Faust and Isabelle Kuczka and freshman Natalie Moore have all played in the Eagles’ first 16 games. Noblitt said Kuczka is still trying to round into form after knee surgery last year. She’s shooting 25 percent from 3-point range and averages 8.2 points per game.
“Personally, I don’t think she’s 80 percent,” Noblitt said. “She’s really struggling with explosion and creating her own shot. I don’t think that leg will allow her to take two dribbles and go straight up. Her attempts are down. She’s not getting to the foul line a lot because she’s not taking it to the hole.”
The Eagles lost 54-49 at WestCounty on Jan. 15 even though they led in the fourth quarter. Harlow scored 22 points in the loss.
“It was nip-and-tuck in the fourth quarter. It could have gone either way,” Noblitt said. “(West County) is 13-2 and are burying some teams. They’re going to be a No. 1 or 2 seed in (Class 3 District 3). Going down (to Leadwood) you never know what you’re going to get.”
The win over the Hornets pushed the Eagles’ league record to 3-0. Grandview is the defending conference champion after splitting the title in 2017.
“We were a game under .500 at the Christmas break and we analyzed what we wanted to accomplish, and the small-schools title was what we talked about,” Noblitt said.