DES MOINES - Cedar Rapids Jefferson picked the wrong time for an ugly date with futility.

The J-Hawks scored only 16 points in the first three quarters Wednesday night and lost to Des Moines Hoover, 45-39, in the opening round of the Class 4A state tournament at Wells Fargo Arena.

Jarrod Uthoff was the only Jefferson player to make a field goal during the first three quarters of the game. He had 15 points after three quarters and the rest of the J-Hawks had one lonely, solitary point after 24 minutes of basketball.

Jefferson scored 23 points in the fourth period, thanks partly to three 3-pointers by sophomore Creighton Robinson, but the J-Hawks never managed to catch up. Robinson, listed generously at 5-foot-10, was playing in only his third varsity game and hadn't scored a point prior to the state tournament.

Jefferson Coach Stu Ordman turned the game into a free throw contest in the fourth quarter, knowing Hoover was a weak foul shooting team at 60.9 percent, but the Huskies made 17 of 29 free throws in the final period to stay ahead.

The eighth-ranked J-Hawks (17-6) shot 11 for 45 from the field (24.4 percent) and lost in the first round of the state tournament for the second straight year. Uthoff finished his prep career with 20 points and 10 rebounds, but hit only 6 of 16 shots and was 0-for-3 on 3-pointers.

Des Moines Hoover is a strong defensive team and held opponents to just 35.6 points per game this season. Jefferson was averaging 60.5 points, but the Huskies asserted their will against the cold-shooting J-Hawks.

"They're a very good defensive team," said Uthoff, the state's leading scorer at 26 points per game. "We had a tough time penetrating, our shots weren't falling, and it went their way."

Jefferson scored 8, 4 and 4 points in the first three quarters and trailed 26-16 entering the fourth period, a throwback score to the 1920s or '30s, not the 21st Century.

"We knew coming in we had to establish ourselves at the defensive end, and I thought we did that tonight," said Hoover Coach Courtney Henderson. "That is what we do. That's our M.O., is defense."

The third-ranked Huskies (22-2) will face No.2 Ankeny (20-4) in the semifinals Friday afternoon.

Jefferson began the game in a zone defense, and Hoover was content to play at a slow pace until the J-Hawks went man-to-man.

"I've never played in a game that was that slow," said Uthoff. "I'm used to a faster pace in the MVC (Mississippi Valley Conference)."

He thought the slow pace bothered the J-Hawks.

"We had a tough time getting into a flow," said Uthoff. "We got frustrated when the shots weren't falling. That's basically it."

Uthoff made two free throws with 7:05 left in the game to pull Jefferson within 26-18. At that point, the 6-foot-8 senior had 17 of his team's 18 points.

The drought for the rest of the J-Hawks ended when Taylor Olson made a fast-break layup with 6:30 left to play, drawing Jefferson within 26-20. It took 25 1/2 minutes for anyone besides Uthoff to make a basket for the eighth-ranked team in the state.

"We just didn't shoot the ball well," said Ordman. "I don't know if we were a little nervous, or a little tight, but we rushed a few shots. We had some good looks and didn't knock them down."

Olson finished 1-for-11 from the field, with that layup his only field goal. Tyler Meiborg, who rolled his ankle in the first quarter, returned to the game and shot 1-for-9. Ky Kramer was 0-for-3 and Alec Saunders was 0-for-2.

Robinson, who spent most of the regular season with the sophomore team, provided a spark in the fourth quarter with his three 3-pointers, pulling Jefferson with 32-25, 35-31 and 38-35, but the J-Hawks could not get closer than three points.

Ordman tried to lengthen the game by telling his guys to constantly foul Hoover. The Huskies obliged by missing 12 foul shots in the final quarter, but they made 17 to stay ahead.

"I'll stand by that decision," said Ordman, who ordered the non-stop fouling with about 4 minutes left in the game. "I thought that gave us a chance to win. We needed to make a lot more possessions."

Robinson's 3-pointers, along with a triple by Meiborg, nearly made the strategy pay off.

"It actually did give us a chance to tie the game," said Ordman. "But again, we really struggled to move and get open for shots and then knock them down."

Alec Brown, a reserve, became one of the designated foulers for Jefferson, coming into the game on defense, committing a foul, leaving the game and then doing it again. He was credited with playing one minute and fouled out.

Kelly Madison Jr. led Hoover with 19 points. The Huskies finished 18 of 31 at the foul line, including those 17 of 29 in the final period.

"We've had our struggles at the free throw line," said Henderson. "We knew we could knock them down when it counted, and we did tonight.

"I guess that was their strategy coming in," he said. "We knew they would come with some type of gimmick. And that was fine. I thought we stepped up and finished the game."

Meiborg got fouled on a 3-point shot with 20.4 seconds left and made all three free throws, pulling Jefferson with 43-39, but the J-Hawks did not score again.

JEFFERSON (39): Tyler Meiborg 1 4-5 7, Ky Kramer 0 0-2 0, Taylor Olson 1 1-2 3, Alec Saunders 0 0-0 0, Jarrod Uthoff 6 8-10 20, Tyler Hemphill 0 0-0 0, Alec Brown 0 0-0 0, Creighton Robinson 3 0-0 9, Alex Denny 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 13-19 39.

DES MOINES HOOVER (45): Dwight Sistrunk Jr. 1 6-10 8, Onterier Brown 1 6-8 8, Kourtlin Jackson 1 3-4 5, Kelly Madison Jr. 7 1-3 19, Reggie White 0 1-4 1, Gatlat Toang 1 1-2 4. Totals 11 18-31 45.

Halftime - Hoover 19, Jefferson 12. 3-point goals - Jefferson 4 (Robinson 3, Meiborg), Hoover 5 (Madison 4, Toang . Fouled out -- Saunders, Brown, Jackson.