J-M carries momentum from football into basketball
By Jerin Steele
Staff Writer
jsteele@observer-reporter.com
The majority of the players on the Jefferson-Morgan boys basketball team came into the gym riding the high of winning a conference championship in football.
Success on the gridiron brought confidence to the group, but also some fatigue that comes with a grueling football campaign.
After losing two of the first three games, while getting into basketball shape, the legs have caught up to the confidence and the Rockets are flying high.
Jefferson-Morgan has won four straight and is tied for first with West Greene at 3-0 in Class 2A, Section 3.
“I would say they have more of a chip on their shoulder after competing hard in football and winning a section championship,” Rockets coach Brandon Lawless said. “It’s a little more personal now for them having done that in football and now transitioning to basketball.
“I think it made for a little slower start in basketball coming off that high of football with how quick the transition is from the end of football to game day. You have maybe two weeks to prepare, but when it comes to the competitive aspect of it, they carry that with them all of the time.”
The Rockets have been strong in their first four section games, defeating everyone except Beth-Center by double-digits. The Rockets got past the Bulldogs, 61-55.
Some of the key contributors played big roles on the football field.
Houston Guesman, the quarterback, is the point guard. Jase Bedilion played linebacker and tight end. John Woodward Jr. was the running back. Jeremiah Robertson was a wide receiver/defensive back.
“We’re playing team basketball right now and firing on all cylinders,” Bedilion said. “Dayten (Marion) has been snagging 12 rebounds a game. Jameson is playing good defense. Houston’s shooting well. John’s shooting well.”
The team basketball aspect Bedilion described has shown in the statistics both offensively and defensively.
Lawless prefers a hard-nosed man-to-man defense and his players have delivered some good results. The Rockets have held opponents to under 50 points in all but the Beth-Center game. They’ve kept opponents in the 20’s twice.
Bedilion, Guesman, Marion, Woodward and Robertson have scored in double figures at least once and most have done it a bunch of times.
“I think there’s a good balance between all of those guys that play football,” Lawless said. “They’re raw in terms of basketball and they all know they’re raw. I just preach to them that if they play as a team all of them will finish in double figures. Over the last couple of weeks they’ve started to key in on that and shown a lot of improvement. It’s reflected on the offensive side of things.”
Jefferson-Morgan has put itself in the conversation to add a basketball title beside the football one they earned. The action will heat up after the holidays as the Rockets host West Greene for a first-place showdown on Jan. 2.
Chartiers-Houston one game behind West Greene and Jefferson-Morgan and Fort Cherry, a state semifinalist last year, and Beth-Center lurking as well.
It should make for a competitive race in the section, but the Rockets are prepared for it.
“We know what this group of kids can do,” Bedilion said. “We know what it feels like to win a football section, and we want to get one for basketball now too. At the beginning of the football season, we knew we had a good shot at (a title) and it came down to the last game against Cal. We hope we can do something like that again in basketball.”