Jaguars up winning streak to 6

By JOSE NEGRON
jnegron@yourmvi.com

Thomas Jefferson won its second game in as many days while extending its winning streak to six with a 58-47 victory over visiting Montour in nonsection play Wednesday.
The Jaguars (7-1), who picked up a 30-point section win over West Mifflin Tuesday, overcame a one-point halftime deficit to dominate in the second half, outscoring the Spartans by a significant 32-20 margin.
“I thought we just had unforced turnovers and bad decision making in the first half,” TJ head coach Dom DeCicco said. “The way we bounced back was impressive. I thought we really defended well in the second half and we eliminated a bunch of mistakes. We were able to get some breakouts because of our rebounding as well.”
Ian Hansen led the way offensively for TJ, scoring nine of his team-high 16 points in the first half. He was almost automatic from the free throw line as well, hitting 9 of 12 from the charity stripe.
“I thought Ian tried to do too much at times, but he’s such a mentally tough kid. If he makes a mistake, he doesn’t pout, he just gets tougher and tougher,” DeCicco said. “He is a kid I love having on the court.”
Hansen was joined in double figures by Aidan Kelly and Jake Pugh. Kelly netted eight of his 15 points in the second half, while Pugh scored all but two of his 12 points in the final 16 minutes.
“Jake is the quarterback on the football team and he’s our quarterback here, too,” DeCicco said. “He can make mistakes here and there, but I’m going to live or die with Jake Pugh.”
Pugh is a big reason why TJ was able to push the momentum in its favor early in the second half. He scored five straight points on a 3-pointer and a bucket inside within the first minute and a half to make it 31-27 in favor of the Jaguars.
Montour (3-2) cut its deficit to one on two separate occasions over the next two minutes before a layup by Kelly was followed up by three straight points from Evan Berger to push TJ’s lead to 38-32 with just over three minutes left.

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