J-Hawks snap 23-game MVC skid

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Jefferson J-Hawks ended a long losing streak Friday night, and did it convincingly.

Royshawn Webb and Dennis McKinney scored 20 points apiece, and Cedar Rapids Jefferson dashed a 23-game Mississippi Valley Conference skid, 76-62, over Cedar Rapids Washington at Jefferson High School.

'This feels really good,' Webb said. 'We've been going hard every day, and it finally paid off.'

The J-Hawks (5-9 overall, 1-7 MVC) are significantly improved over last year, when they sagged to 1-21. It hadn't registered in conference play until Friday, though they had been close.

'We had some close ones,' said Coach Brandon Horman. 'We lost three straight to Kennedy, Dubuque Senior and Cedar Falls by a combined five points. You could just tell, we were starting to put it together.

'We've got great kids that are great to coach every day.'

Friday's victory looked like anything but a fluke. The J-Hawks trailed just once — at 9-8 — then steadily pulled away through the remainder of the first half. Jefferson owned a 35-23 advantage at intermission.

Washington (5-7, 2-6) cut a 17-point deficit to 49-39 by the end of the third quarter, but Jefferson opened the fourth period with a 9-2 run to cut any suspense.

'We've picked up the intensity this year,' said Webb, who hit all 12 of his free-throw attempts. 'We can only go up, go forward from here.'

Adam Van Oort added 15 points, and matched McKinney for game honors with eight rebounds.

Keion Wills paced the Warriors with 21 points. Hunter Strait added 17. Leading scorer Laveechie Williams scored just seven points on 2-of-12 shooting, and his night ended early when he was called for his second technical foul (hanging on the rim on a dunk attempt).

CEDAR RAPIDS JEFFERSON 76, CEDAR RAPIDS WASHINGTON 62

At C.R. Jefferson

C.R. WASHINGTON (62): Keion Wills 5-11 9-12 21, Hunter Strait 7-13 2-5 17, Dallas Hobbs 1-2 2-2 4, Ian Thomas 3-6 2-4 9, Laveechie Williams 2-12 3-5 7, Maleik Jackson 1-3 0-0 2, Noah Dawson 0-0 2-2 2, Christian Beard 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-47 20-30 62.

C.R. JEFFERSON (76): Royshawn Webb 4-8 12-12 20, Valentino Green 1-4 0-5 2, Kane Kramer 1-5 2-4 6, Adam Van Oort 6-13 2-3 15, Dennis McKinney 8-12 4-4 20, James Brown Jr. 4-8 0-0 8, Grant Wiederin 0-0 0-0 0, Zachary Larsen 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 26-53 21-28 76.

Halftime: Jefferson 35, Washington 23. 3-point goals: Washington 4-12 (Wills 2-5, Strait 1-4, Thomas 1-2, Jackson 0-1), Jefferson 3-13 (Webb 0-1, Kramer 1-5, Van Oort 1-5, Larsen 1-2). Team fouls: Washington 22, Jefferson 21. Fouled out: Wills, Hobbs, McKinney. Technical fouls: Williams 2 (ejection), McKinney. Rebounds: Washington 31 (Williams 7), Jefferson 34 (Van Oort, McKinney 8). Assists: Washington 6 (three with 2), Jefferson 9 (Webb, Kramer 3). Steals: Washington 10 (Wills 4), Jefferson 10 (three with 3). Turnovers: Washington 19, Jefferson 17.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com