Jefferson basketball coach Todd Brannan stood on the sidelines Friday after his J-Hawks knocked off Hononegah 64-48, and enjoyed the moment.

“We haven’t had this kind of excitement in this gym in a long time,” the first-year coach said, watching the Jefferson fans and players celebrate at midcourt.

In the middle of the crowd was junior guard Mershon Wilkes, who scored nine of his 16 points in the first quarter when Jefferson (6-0, 1-0) took a 16-7 advantage.

It was a lead the J-Hawks never relinquished.

“This means a lot to us,” Wilkes said. “We were having a drought in our school (basketball) history, and we just want to get it back to where it was.”

Wilkes also played a key role in defending Hononegah senior standout David Brown, the defending NIC-10 MVP who’ll play at Western Michigan next year.

The J-Hawks limited Brown to two first-half points and 14 for the night.

“We knew he is a good player,” Wilkes said. “We just wanted to play him hard. And not give him any easy baskets, and contest every shot he took.”

Brown scored on the opening possession of the second half as Hononegah (4-1, 0-1) cut the deficit to 24-21. But Jefferson roared ahead 32-23 moments later when Jordan Kerley hit back-to-back 3s.

“Thaddeus (Perry) was setting screens for me so I just took a shot every time I was open,” said Kerley, who had 19 points. “And they happened to fall for me.”

Using full-court pressure, Hononegah came within four points with a minute left in the third.

Jefferson moved the advantage to 11 points in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter.

Brown, averaging 21 points a game last season, reached double figures with 2:46 remaining.

“We didn’t match their passion and their energy,” Hononegah coach Mike Miller said.

The Indians, one of the preseason favorites to win the league, face Boylan tonight. “We’ve got to get a lot better in 24 hours.” Miller said.

- Doug Goodman, rrstar.com