Taylor Olson scored 23 of his game-high 28 points in the second half and Jefferson held off a game Washington, 68-52, Friday night in a Mississippi Valley Conference boys basketball game at Washington.

Winless Washington (0-5, 0-3) put up a good battle until about the 5-minute mark of the fourth quarter. That's when Olson took over for the unbeaten J-Hawks (6-0, 3-0).

Olson made 13 free throws in the second half. He moved from the perimeter where he usually is the J-Hawks' point guard, to a high post in the second half. That gave him the opportunities he needed to take the ball to the basket and draw the fouls that put him on the line.

“In the first half I was playing a little more on the perimeter but in the second half I was doing more post up stuff and I got fouled a lot more,” explained Olson.  “In the second half, their zone kind of bothered the up-tempo style we like to play, but we settled in and we were just fine.”

Jefferson Coach Stu Ordman said Olson is a multitalented player who can make the transition inside and out.

“Taylor finds a way to be effective and comes he seems to always come up with the play when we need it,” said Ordman.  “He makes everyone around him a better player; he’s just a special kid.”

In the first half Jefferson used an aggressive, trapping half court defense to create turnovers and take a comfortable 34-24 halftime lead.

But the disruptive defense put the J-Hawks in some foul trouble and that foul trouble gave the Warriors the breathing space they needed to launch a challenge that saw them
get back to within two points. But they never quite overcame the Jefferson lead.

“We got down and really battled back,” said Washington Coach Brad Metzger.  “Then it really disappointed me that we lost our composure and let the game get away from us.  We have been progressing at both ends of the court each game, but not enough.”

Alec Saunders was the beneficiary of Jefferson’s aggressive first half defense and led Jefferson with nine points at the break. But foul trouble limited his playing time in the second half.  He finished with 15 points.

“We love to make the other team scramble to disrupt their offense and create turnovers,” said Saunders.  “We took advantage of that in the first half.”

Jefferson was playing a little short-handed on the bench. Creighton Robinson missed his third straight game because of injury and the J-Hawks got a little thin when Saunders and Tyler Hemphill fouled out.

“We were playing without some kids because of injuries tonight so those fouls were a problem for us once they began mounting up,” said Ordman. “But we got through it.”

Washington was led in scoring by David Tann with 13 points and Jason Oney was also in double figures with 10.

Next up for Jefferson is a non-conference game at North Cedar on Tuesday night.

Washington is idle until after the holiday break.

JEFFERSON (68): Saunders 6 3-7 15, Kramer 3 0-0 7, Hemphill 4 0-1 9, T.Olson 7 14-21 28, Underwood 3 2-4 8, J.Olson 0 1-2 1, Sullivan 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 20-35 68.

WASHINGTON (52): Tann 3 6-10 13, Butterfield 1 0-0 3, Moa 3 0-0 8, Holmes 4 0-1 9, Bredl 1 1-2 3, Oney 3 3-4 10, Nash 2 0-2 4, Bergstrom 0 0-0 0, Anderson 0 0-0 0, Clark 1 0-0 2, Kramer 0 0-0 0, Bil 0 0-0 0, Rosenthal 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 10-19 52.

Halftime — Jefferson 34 Washington 24. 3-point goals — Jefferson 2 (Kramer 1, Hemphill 1)  Washington 6 (Tann 1, Butterfield 1, Moa 2, Holmes 1, Oney 1).  Fouled out -- Saunders, Hemphill.