JEFFERSON - It was just one of those nights for the Jefferson boys basketball team. Very little went right for the Falcons in a 77-53 All-American Conference loss at the hands of LaBrae.
The Falcons struggled in nearly every facet of their offense. Turnovers led to fastbreak points. Shots just wouldn't fall. Rebounds were hard to come by.
It was just a rough outing.
"We were missing open looks on offense," Jefferson coach Jeremy Huber said. "It's my fault. I've got to get guys where they need to be.
"I don't think we played too fast. It was too slow. We were down 20, we had to attack. We've got to get in the gym and work on our offense."
LaBrae (3-0, 1-0) forced 21 turnovers. Surprisingly, just five of those were steals.
"We turned up the pressure, at times," LaBrae coach Chad Kiser said. "We had a couple breakdowns, but overall, I'm happy. I thought we did a pretty good job boxing out and getting rebounds."
Jefferson (2-4, 0-1) was just 17 of 51 (33.3 percent) from the field and the Falcons were outrebounded, 45-35.
On the other hand, the Vikings were led by Peyton Aldridge, in every category but steals. He netted 16 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
"Peyton took over in the second half," Kiser said of his 6-foot-6 junior. "He would drive and dump or kick it out. (Jefferson) did a good job on him in the first half. You could tell they were trying to keep him from even touching the ball."
The rest of the Vikings followed Aldridge's lead, just as Kiser knew they would.
"We have a sign in the locker room that says, 'The greatest teams are the result of their best players being the hardest workers.' They know he's the leader and he's out there working hard. Everyone follows. It feeds down from the first guy to the last guy."
LaBrae used a 9-0 spurt over the final two minutes of the first quarter to take a 19-4 lead after eight minutes. Jefferson was just 2 of 14 (14.3 percent) from the field in the first period.
"It was just offensive chemistry," Huber said. "We've got to find offensive chemistry. The guys felt confident. They just couldn't find the right looks."
The Vikings held that same 15-point advantage, 37-22, at the half.
Aldridge was held to just three points in the first half, but he had 10 boards, three assists and a block.
"The other guys needed step up," Kiser said. "We worked the ball around and found the open guy. Peyton did a great job keeping his head up and making passes."
Jefferson whittled the deficit to 10, 41-31, on a 3-pointer from Tony Chiacchiero with 5:16 remaining in the third quarter. A 7-0 spurt in which Aldridge scored a pair of baskets extended the lead back to 51-34 with 3:40 left in the period.
LaBrae was 30 of 63 (47.6 percent) from the field and turned the ball over just 12 times on the night.
"They're a good team, a fluid team," Huber said. "Chad runs a great program.
"Peyton is a great player. He can pass. He can shoot. He can handle the basketball. He's worth the price of admission."
Marcell Richardson netted 14 points, Paul Zigmont added 10 and Tyler Shiamone and Carl Brown each scored eight.
