Jaguars overcome late turnovers to hold off Hillers

By DEAN DELLAMALVA JR.

MVI Sports

The Thomas Jefferson and Trinity boys basketball team put on a three-point clinic in their non-section game Tuesday. 

Fortunately for the Jaguars, they made two more than the Hillers to pull out a 59-53 win on their home floor.

TJ’s Aidan Kelly and Evan Berger each had 17 points and combined for nine baskets from beyond the arc. However, the Hillers’ Michael Dunn stole the show with 34 points, making six threes.

Thomas Jefferson (17-4) scored all of their second-quarter points on 3-pointers, making six. Dunn responded by making a three on five consecutive possessions and had 20 points by the half.

“Everybody was shooting the ball well and we were running a play that we had set for that,” Jaguars head coach Dom DeCicco said. “Aidan and Berger were just knocking them all down.”

At halftime, TJ made an adjustment, putting Berger on Dunn on the defensive end. That change resulted in Dunn not making a three in the second half. He still got his points, but had to go about it in a different way.

“That’s unusual for a freshman, usually that’s the last thing that comes for them,” DeCicco said in reference to Berger’s defense. “This kid, we can put him on the best player. He’s a difference maker for us.”

Thomas Jefferson was able to gain the margin they needed for victory in the third quarter.

Berger opened the second half with his fifth trey of the game, making the score 36-29 TJ. After a pair of baskets by Dunn cut the deficit to three, the Jaguars went on a 13-4 run to end the third.

During this stretch four different TJ players scored, giving the Jaguars their largest lead of the night, 49-37 through three quarters.

TJ had chances to put the game away in the fourth quarter but made just 2 of 8 at the free-throw line. Paired with some untimely turnovers, Trinity cut into TJ’s margin of victory.

“It was a hard-fought game, we missed foul shots down at the end and a couple bad turnovers in the fourth,” DeCicco said. “Defensively, we’re playing well but we can’t make mistakes in the fourth quarter like that. We just can’t, we need to eliminate that.”

The Jaguars still have one more regular-season game on the schedule, tonight at South Fayette. They’ll open the playoffs at home against Latrobe. The game is scheduled to take place March 3 at 6 pm.

DeCicco says it does not matter where his team is seeded, they will be ready.

“We’ll start looking at (Latrobe) Thursday. I’ve never even cared about our seed to be perfectly honest. You have to beat everybody they put in front of you,” DeCicco said. “I like our team, I like our toughness and we can make shots. We can play with anybody.”