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Jefferson County could not have gotten off to a better start on Monday evening against Greeneville.

The Patriots came out of the locker room on a mission and led by eight after the first quarter, stretching that lead to 11 early in the second.

However, in the final two minutes of the first half, the two time defending state champions woke up.

Greeneville scored eight points in the final two minutes of the half to take a two-point lead into the locker room. The Greene Devils scored the first 14 points of the third quarter and went on from there to a 55-39 victory.

“We got a little careless with the basketball and didn’t value it as much as we should have,” Jeff County coach Andy Hill said. “That’s on not just the passer but the receiver, as well. Just as it is on the passer to deliver it, you have to go meet passes and make tough catches against them. We had them in foul trouble, but we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities at the free throw line. You combine that with the turnovers, and that’s why the game was close at the half instead of us having a substantial lead.”

The first quarter was as well as the Patriots have played all year on both sides of the floor. Offensively, Jeff County hit four shots and knocked down two free throws to score 11 points. On the defensive end of the floor, the Patriots limited Greeneville to three points on one made shot.

While the Patriots have been a solid defensive team all season, the first eight minutes on Monday showed that the effort on that side of the floor can lead to points on the other side.

“Our defense has been somewhat solid all year,” Hill said. “You can make up a lot of stuff on that end on sheer want to. We came here and we said we were going to guard, and I feel like we have put our money where our mouth is. We have defended well all year. It was nice to see us get some turnovers tonight and convert those.”

Vontez McCray led the team in the scoring column with seven points while Talan Higgins and Tyler Jackson each had six points.

Other scorers for Jeff County were Cy Mincey with five points, Brody Carr with four points, Kip Parker with four points, James Clark with two points, Kohl Bonura with two points, Jace Dobbins with two points and Luke Haston with one point.

With 10 players scoring in the game for the Patriots, the depth is there as young talent stepped up when given an opportunity late in Monday’s game.

“The more competition that you have in your program, the better off you are going to be,” Hill said. “You want that competition. You want your guys that come off the bench to want to be starters. You don’t want them to be satisfied in their role, but you want them to be great teammates in that role. It was good to see some guys get an opportunity. It’s year one for us, and we’re looking for guys that want to do it the way it needs to be done.”

Greeneville was led in the game by Adjatay Dabbs with 15 points while Trey Thompson had 12 points.

The Patriots started off quick in the game as Mincey knocked down a 3-pointer. Thompson answered with a three, but those were the only points Greeneville scored in the first quarter. The Patriots got four points from Higgins and two each from Bonura and Mincey, leading 11-3 after one.

The second quarter started just as strong with McCray knocking down a three to make it 14-3. Greeneville scored the next seven points to cut the lead to four, but Higgins scored and McCray hit two free throws.

Leading 18-12 with two minutes to go, that’s when things fell apart for Jeff County as Greeneville scored the final eight points to lead 20-18.

Any chance of a comeback was put away in the third as the Greene Devils scored the first 14 points to go up 34-18. It was 45-23 heading to the fourth.

In the fourth, some younger players got a chance for the Patriots and responded well, scoring 16 points and holding Greeneville to 10.

Jeff County will be back in action on Friday as they host Morristown East at 7:30 p.m. The Patriots defense will be put to the test in that game as they look to contain East’s Kyle Cloninger, who is averaging almost 27 points per game.

“They can shoot the basketball,” Hill said. “They put a lot of stress on your defense. Kyle is a great player. He plays the game the right way and is a great decision maker. At this level, that separates a lot of guys. It’ll be a challenge for us.”