Eagles are off to the Final Four after dethroning undefeated Redbirds

Jefferson defenders Clayton Merrigan and Chase Farnan close down on a Winston player during the Class 1 State Quarterfinal at the St. Joseph Civic Arena. The Eagles won 55-39 over the undefeated Winston Redbirds.

By Dustin Henggeler

It’s a tall order to crash the wave of an undefeated team like the Winston Redbirds, but the Jefferson Eagles had a new surge of confidence after taking down Mound City a few days earlier. That confidence showed in the calm, cool and collected play the Eagles brought to the St. Joseph Civic Arena on March 1 as Jefferson handed Winston a 55-39 loss to advance to the Final Four on March 8 and 9 at Missouri State University in Springfield.

“Things started way back in the North Platte Tournament,” Jefferson Coach Tim Jermain said about building his players’ confidence. “We did a lot of talking for the next couple of days after that tournament about staying positive and making things happen and not letting negative thought creep into your mind. Since then I thought they’ve done a great job of that and tonight we kept talking about how Winston was not going away easily. Our guys did a great job answering everything they did.”

Read the rest of Dustin’s story and see more photos in the 3/7 printed edition.