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Jefferson’s Mike Chisamore looks for an open teammate during the first half against Belvidere. Chisamore scored 6 points for Jefferson. (Photo by Matt Nestor)

By Matt Nestor
Sports Columnist

A back-and-forth affair between Jefferson and Belvidere was tied at 42 going into the fourth quarter and appeared to be anyone’s game.

The game, however, belonged to J-Hawks senior guard Dez Agee.

Agee hit two 3-pointers, several driving layups and a few big free-throws in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter on his way to a game-high 18 points as Jefferson (8-14, 4-8) pulled away late to top Belvidere 69-57.

“Some kids are shooters, Dez is a scorer,” Jefferson Head Coach Todd Brannan said. “He might score 8, 10, 12 points in a row. And we needed them tonight. He’s kind of herky-jerky and plays at a different pace, and he’s left-handed, so that’s a huge advantage for us, and he did a heck of a job.”

The surge helped overcome a hot-shooting Belvidere squad that was looking for their second win of the season.

The Bucs (6-15, 1-11) hit seven 3-point shots in the game, including four-for-seven from behind the arc in the first quarter, where they were able to take a 4-point lead.

Cameron Hunter led the way for Belvidere with 14 points, including three of the seven threes.

Jefferson was able to offset that with strong, physical play. The J-Hawks out-rebounded the Bucs 33-16, including 16 from Agee and their other starting guard, junior L.T. Davis, who had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

“We need that from our guards,” Brannan said. “They all need to rebound like that. We talked about how we had to play with toughness, be physical and play with a lot of heart. I thought we did a good job of that tonight.”

For the J-Hawks, who have also picked up wins over East and Harlem recently, they hope this can help propel them to a strong finish and give them a chance to make some noise in the regionals.

“Back at Christmas, we decided that we had to be committed to getting in there and fighting and trying to improve every day,” Brannan said. “And I think we’ve done that, which is a credit to our kids. There is a lot of inexperience there, but they’ve really grown up the last couple of weeks.”

In other NIC-10 action:

→ Belvidere North (9-12, 6-5) did pick up a win over the J-Hawks the previous night, getting 21 points from Adam Hawkins in a 54-50 road win over Jefferson.

→ Auburn (16-4, 11-0) picked up two more wins to continue their dominance in conference play. LaMark Foote kept up where he left off the previous weekend, scoring 24 points in a 78-64 win over Belvidere, and followed that up with 28 in an 87-59 win over Guilford (8-15, 4-8).

→ East (13-8, 6-5) was able to get back in the win column, topping Harlem (9-15, 4-7) by a final of 81-73. Javon Henderson scored 24 points to lead the way for the E-Rabs.

→ Freeport (8-13, 4-8) exploded for 26 fourth-quarter points on their way to a 68-57 win over Guilford. Quavion Scott scored 16 and Luke Norman scored 13 to lead the way for the Pretzels.