With a mostly new starting lineup, including three sophomores, the Jefferson boys basketball team did something last week it had never done before.
The Blue Jays won the Rolla “Duke” Herbert Tournament at Crystal City with a 61-52 victory over the St. Louis Patriots in the championship Dec. 6. In the earlier rounds, Jefferson beat two conference opponents, topping Grandview 48-41 and Herculaneum 71-43.
Even Jefferson’s 22-win, Class 3 District 4 champion squad last year, led by the Jefferson County Activities Association’s small-schools MVP Nate Breeze, couldn’t pull that off.
Breeze graduated and his uncle, former head coach Sean Breeze, left to become activities director at Grandview. Also gone is 2024 graduate Kaleb Weiler, who joined Nate Breeze on the all-conference first team.
Stepping in the void is sophomore forward Colton Broadwater, who saw his first varsity action last December against Steelville at the Bob Sechrest Christmas Tournament in Park Hills. Broadwater averaged 15.6 points per game at the Herbert Tournament.
“We’re a super young team but we’re hungry and determined and we play as a team,” Broadwater said. “(Junior guard Cooper Frisk) can penetrate and he finds me in the post and I give credit to him.
“I learned a lot from Kaleb. He taught me some post moves and where to go against the zone.”
“That’s exciting for my boys,” said new Blue Jay head coach Tyler Bellmyer. “A lot of them are young and hopefully they can win it more than once. For this to be our start is a huge confidence booster.
“From an overall perspective we had great game plans against three good teams. Our kids did a good job of executing the game plans. They were focused when we talked to them about it. As the tournament went on, we got more efficient on the offensive end. We had more energy on the defensive end of the floor.”
Bellmyer said Broadwater’s main strength is his ability to score from down low.
“He’s going to be one of the better players in the area because of his knowledge of the game. He’s really starting to develop as a post.”
And he’s not the only new player drawing attention. Sinking four 3-point baskets, sophomore guard Blayne Wilson led the Blue Jays with 24 points against the Patriots. He pumped in 18 points, including four treys, against Herculaneum. In the final, Wilson contributed seven points, four rebounds and three steals.
“He was a big jump-starter for our offense,” Bellmyer said,
Joining Broadwater in the front court was another sophomore, Talon Watson, whom Bellmyer said had an all-around great game against the Patriots with six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Frisk and junior guard Noah Buehler served as that veteran presence to keep the team focused at both ends of the floor.
In the final, Jefferson held between a five- and 10-point lead the entire game.
“(The Patriots) ran a zone and they were really long,” Bellmyer said. “They’ll be a matchup nightmare for anyone they play.”
Herculaneum is led by junior guard Tanner Duncan, a second-team all-conference player last season. Duncan had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds against Jefferson, which hit nine shots from the 3-point arc and had three players – Broadwater, Wilson and Frisk – score in double figures.
“Tanner’s a really good player,” Bellmyer said. “We had to defend him hard. He had a 29-point game (against Bayless). (Our) first half (against Herky) was OK. We had decent energy and were doing just enough to survive. The second half was when we hit our stride. That third quarter, we scored 27 points and that’s when we figured out the intensity we needed to beat a conference rival.”
The Blue Jays opened their home schedule Monday and fell 68-49 to Potosi (3-0) and senior Carter Whitley, who has more than 1,000 career points. The Trojans won at home 56-41 over Jefferson last season. The Blue Jays return home Friday to face Arcadia Valley (1-0).
“We know Potosi is a challenge,” Bellmyer said. “They have good player (Whitley), maybe the best player we’ve seen all season. If we let him get hot, it will be a long night for us. We’ll ride off that energy we built.”
Junior center has career night
St. Pius X junior center Brooke Blankenship made six field goals in the first quarter, finished with 30 points and pulled down 20 rebounds to lead the Lancers (1-2) to a 55-44 win over Father Tolton on Dec. 5.
Blankenship averaged 14 points per game last season when St. Pius finished fourth in the state in Class 3.
Hazelwood Central beat the Lancers 59-44 on Tuesday night. Blankenship had 13 points, eight boards and three blocked shots.