Jefferson Independent Day and Golden City are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2017, but not for long. Having just played yesterday, the Jefferson Independent Day Cavaliers will jump right back in to play the Golden City Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Jefferson Independent Day is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 57.2 points per game this season.
Having struggled with three defeats in a row, Jefferson Independent Day turned things around against Exeter on Thursday. They blew past the Tigers 72-28. The Cavaliers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven contests by 20 points or more this season.
| 02/06/25 vs Exeter | 8 |
| 01/30/25 @ Golden City | 6 |
| 11/25/24 @ Exeter | 5 |
| 11/26/24 vs Bronaugh | 4 |
| 12/02/24 vs Jasper | 4 |
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Jefferson Independent Day to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jack Twiss, who went 7 for 12 en route to 18 points and eight steals. The dominant performance gave Twiss a new career-high in steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Kohl Thurman, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 12 boards.
Meanwhile, Golden City lost to McAuley Catholic on the road by a 65-47 margin on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, the Eagles can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Missouri basketball rankings (they are ranked 481st, while the Warriors are ranked 211th).
Jefferson Independent Day will have to keep a close watch on Jamison Menadue and Spencer Parrill, a pair of players who had a big impact on Golden City's prior game. Menadue posted 16 points in addition to five assists and four steals, while Parrill went 6 of 13 on his way to 15 points and seven rebounds. The matchup was Menadue's ninth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Robby Stafford, who put up four points and five boards.
Even though they lost, Golden City smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in four consecutive games.
Golden City's loss dropped their record down to 11-11. As for Jefferson Independent Day, their win bumped their record up to 11-9.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Jefferson Independent Day has been crashing the rebounds this season, having averaged 30.6 boards per game. However, it's not like Golden City struggles in that department as they've been averaging 31.8 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Jefferson Independent Day came up short against Golden City when the teams last played last Thursday, falling 77-70. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Menadue, who went 13 for 26 en route to 36 points along with seven boards and five steals. Now that Jefferson Independent Day knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
