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Morristown West couldn’t have scripted a better Senior Night, as all three seniors scored in double figures to lead the Trojans to a 56-51 win over rival Jefferson County.

The Trojans built a 19-point lead in the third quarter before the Patriots stormed back to make for some late-game drama, but West led for all but three minutes and held on for the win.

“We were able to get a good lead there,” West head coach Joe Dobyns said. “We felt like we could. It got a little physical as we knew it would. It got chippy as we knew it would. It started to get a little bit out of control as we knew it would. And, you know, our lead gave us a little bit of a cushion. And then we had a little bit of an uncharacteristic stretch there where we turned it over against their press a little bit, but, and that allowed them to get back in it. But then, at that point, it just became a race to the finish line, and we just wanted to get out of here with a win, and to our guys’ credit, they were able to get that done.”

The Trojans saw big contributions out of all three seniors, who potentially played their last game at Mike Reed Gym. Julian Sexton led West with 15 points, Will Desgroseilliers had 14 despite dealing with foul trouble and TJ Walthall added 10.

“I just want to tell you how proud I am of those three seniors,” Dobyns said. “I mean, Will, Julian, TJ, they came out here and did their job tonight. They all three had good games. It was awesome to see the three seniors be the three guys in double figures tonight. They’ve meant a whole lot to this program. They’ve won a conference championship. They’ve tried to set a standard higher than it’s been before, and we want to continue to set that standard. And I really appreciate everything they’ve done. I’ve loved those guys, and I appreciate everything they’ve done for this program.”

Sexton, a guy who has flown under the radar for the last few years, has emerged as a key player for the Trojans in the back half of the season, and he played a key role in building West’s lead by scoring the first 10 points of the second half for West.

“He has really played well,” Dobyns said. “Early on in the first half, he missed a couple of shots, and he was down himself. I told him at halftime, ‘Just hang in there, I know the next one’s going in.’ He’s shooting extremely well, and I wasn’t worried about it and let him keep shooting. He came out in the second half and made three threes, and I was really proud of him for sticking with it and keeping focused and getting that done. He’s really been good, especially the second half of the year for us.”

The Patriots also had three with double digits. Brody Carr and Hudson Estes had 12, while Shawn Jackson added 10.

The night started with a Caleb Franklin three to give Jeff a 3-0 lead before Jamere WIlliams put in an and one to knot it at 3-3. Jackson scored moments later, and the Patriots took their last lead of the night as Joey Mihalko made it 6-5 West with a triple.

West went on a 7-0 run to take control with a two and a three from DesGroseilliers, who also dished it to Williams for a lay in the run.

Estes responded with a three-point play before Anderson Noe drilled a three, and the Trojans led 18-14 after one.

Sexton, DesGroseilliers, Noe and Walthall scored as West opened the second frame on an 8-0 run to take a 26-14 lead. Carr put in two free throws and a lay, and Walthall scored West last six points of the half, including a second chance bucket at the buzzer to give West a 32-18 cushion at the intermission.

Sexton opened the second half with a 7-0 run by himself to give the home team its larget lead of the night at 39-20. Carr and Jackson followed with buckets in response before Sexton put in another triple to keep it at 42-24 with five minutes to go in the third.

The Trojans cooled down for the remainder of the quarter, allowing the Patriots to chip away at the lead and end the half on an 8-2 run, closing the deficit to 44-32.

The fourth quarter began with a bucket from DesGroseilliers, followed by threes for JCHS’ Estes and Sexton to keep the West advantage at 49-35 with five minutes to go.

However, the Patriots’ press caused fits for the Trojan offense, and Deacon Taylor’s three got the Patriots within eight at 51-43. DesGroseilliers followed with a lay to get it back to 10, and Jefferson County used a 6-1 run to get within five in the final 30 seconds. But the Patriots couldn’t complete the comeback despite having good looks, and West held on for the five-point win.

West will look to build off its 19-10 regular season that saw a 9-3 mark in 2026 and a 7-1 finish to District 1-4A action. The Trojans hold the No. 1 seed in the tournament after earning a share of the regular season title, and they look to bring that success into the postseason.

West awaits the finish of Thursday’s play-in game between East and West Ridge and plays the winner on Saturday.

“We’ve had a really good regular season,” Dobyns said. “We were able to close things out last week. We had three conference games in a row in one week — almost half our conference schedule. The guys really found a way to rise to the challenge last week and come out with a co-championship with Dobyns-Bennett, who’s a really good basketball team. For us to be able to share that with them was special. And then to be able to get the one seed with a tie breaker is really good for us.

“We know it’ll be a challenge Saturday night, whoever we play. We know that every game from this point forward is going to be a challenge, especially in our league. And so we got to come ready to play and not be satisfied. It’s one thing we’ve really talked about is we did a great job in the regular season, but we don’t want to be satisfied with where we’re at right now, and try to continue to move forward and meet some other goals and do some things that haven’t been done a while.”