While the flurries were falling in eastern Iowa the J-Hawks found something else falling that they haven’t seen much of … their outside shots.

No. 2 Jefferson blew out Waterloo West, 72-42.

The J-Hawks kept pace with the Mississippi Conference leaders with an 8-1 overall record (5-1 in the MVC). Waterloo West drops to 3-5, 2-4.

So far this year Jefferson has not been known for its outside shooting. The J-Hawks came into tonight’s game going 25-91 (27.5%) from beyond the arc. To contain an inside attack the Wahawks came out in a 2-3 zone. In the first quarter Jefferson rained in five 3-pointers (Ty Meiborg 3, Jarrod Uthoff 2). At the end of the first half Jefferson went 6-10 and maintained a 44-19 lead.

Waterloo West is led by varsity veteran Trent Washington and junior Dale Jones. (Jones ranks 13th in the MVC in scoring averaging 15.2 ppg while Washington averages 13.5) The Jefferson defense held both to 8. The Wahawks shot 14-52 including 1-21 from long-range.

About his team’s defense Coach Stu Ordman said, “We tried to take away their favorite actions and it’s good that we did with the number of times we turned the ball over. Our defense helped get our transition game going. We came out slow in the second half and showed some resiliency coming out of the timeout. I was very dissatisfied with the way we handled their full-court pressure.”

Uthoff had another solid game for the J-Hawks with 26 points, 12 rebounds, and six blocks. He came into tonight’s game as the state’s leading scorer. His highlight reel added another clip with two minutes remaining in the second quarter when  Taylor Olson threw an outlet pass to Alec Saunders up the court. Saunders found a streaking Uthoff who went up over a Wahawk defender to flush it threw the basket.

“Tyler Meiborg played a heck of a floor game and Jarrod had his usual solid game. We got a nice game from our bench tonight with good play from Alex Brown and Alex Denny,” said Ordman.

The real story however is the emergence of Meiborg, who adds another dimension to an already lethal Jefferson offense.

The name Meiborg should sound familiar to Jefferson basketball enthusiasts. Tory Meiborg, Ty’s older brother, is scattered throughout the Jefferson record books from the early '90s. He’s known for his ability to connect from the outside. Ty took a page from his brother scoring 18 of his 20 points in the first half. Meiborg continued his attack off the dribble and dishing out a game-high six assists. He finished the game going 4-5 from 3-point range.

When asked about his emergence the past two games, Meiborg said, “Coach (Carey) Ash has been telling us in practice that we need other players to step up and score points when other teams are keying on Uthoff. I’m feeling more confident. I’ve been hitting my shots in practice and they’re beginning to carry over into the games.”

While next Tuesday will bring the news of the substates, games 5-15 are still used to determine the team’s individual seeding. Four games in, the J-Hawks are now 3-1. The string of road games continue Friday night at No. 6 Kennedy. The game has been dubbed the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

JEFFERSON (72): Meiborg 7 2-2 20, Kramer 0 0-2 0, Olson 1 4-4 6, Saunders 7 2-2 16, Uthoff 9 6-8 26, Brown 0 0-0 0, Larson 0 0-0 0, Heying 1 0-0 2, Denny 1 0-0 2, Rooney 0 0-1 0, Hemphill 0 0-0 0, Steckler 0 0-0 0, Kelly 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 14-18 72.

WATERLOO WEST (42): Washington 3 1-2 8, Smith 0 0-0 0, Smith, D. 2 3-5 7, Mallet 0 1-1 1, Moore 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 0-0 0, Smith, C. 3 1-1 7, Jones 2 4-4 8, Johnson 3 1-2 7, Jackson 0 1-2 1, Meyers 0 0-0 0, McMahon 1 1-2 3. Totals 14 13-19 42.

Halftime—Jefferson 44. Waterloo West 19. 3-point goals—Wat. West 1 (Washington), Jefferson 6 (Meiborg 4, Uthoff 2).