Sprague and Carter lead the way as TJ defeats D’Evelyn 78-67.
After a tough loss to Widefield the previous night where nothing seemed to be going their way, the Spartan hoop squad responded with an impressive effort, beating the respectable D’Evelyn Jaguars 78-67 Wednesday evening.
The victory was no day at the beach for the Spartans as they had their hands full with the states leading scorer Jeremy Sullivan, who before the game was averaging over 30 points per game.
At halftime, TJ lead 34-33, and it was obvious they took the court as a different team that showed up against Widefield. Not only was the offense in rhythm, but the Spartan held Sullivan to only 3 points in the first half.
The second half was dominated by TJ. Billy Sprague put up a superior effort on both ends of the court, finishing with 23 points, and Chris Carter was flowing from the 3-point line totaling 21 points on the night.
The game wasn’t even as close as the score indicated. TJ had multiple opportunities to put the game away from the free-throw line, but failed to put the nail in the coffin, finally pulling away late, and overcoming Sullivan’s 21 point second half eruption.
“It was nice to bounce back from a poor performance and come out with the victory,” said Sprague.
“Commitment to defense and better offensive execution,” was the biggest turn around for the Spartans according to Head Coach Grant Laman.
With a record of 8-4, the Spartans will take on former 5A state runner-up Aurora Central on Tuesday, January 13 at 7 pm at Aurora Central.
Statistics
| Thomas Jefferson Scoring | ||||||||||||||
|
PTS
|
FG
|
FGP
|
3FG
|
3FGP
|
FT
|
FTP
|
||||||||
| Billy Sprague |
23
|
9-15
|
60.0%
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
5-7
|
71.4%
|
|||||||
| Chris Carter |
21
|
6-10
|
60.0%
|
3-6
|
50.0%
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|||||||
| Shane Oliver |
9
|
2-3
|
66.7%
|
1-3
|
33.3%
|
2-3
|
66.7%
|
|||||||
| Ray Riley |
8
|
4-12
|
33.3%
|
0-3
|
0%
|
n/a
|
0%
|
|||||||
| Jamel Compton |
8
|
4-5
|
80.0%
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|||||||
| Thomas Jefferson OTHER | ||||||||||
|
OR
|
DR
|
PF
|
TF
|
S
|
BLK
|
AST
|
||||
| Billy Sprague |
7
|
7
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
2
|
4
|
2
|
|||
| Jamel Compton |
3
|
2
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
1
|
n/a
|
|||
| Chris Carter |
3
|
5
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
2
|
n/a
|
2
|
|||
| Harris |
2
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
2
|
n/a
|
|||
| Ray Riley |
1
|
1
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
|||
| D’Evelyn (7-4) |
16
|
17
|
20
|
14
|
67
|
FINAL
|
| Thomas Jefferson (8-4) |
16
|
18
|
22
|
22
|
78
|
