Mr. Hyde was nowhere to be found Tuesday, if you're a Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson boys basketball fan.

The Yellow Jackets were a thing of beauty in this roller-coaster season, placing all five starters in double figures en route to an 85-53 thumping of Council Bluffs St. Albert at the Thomas Jefferson Fieldhouse.

Thomas Jefferson coach Dave Lutz said his team has been searching for consistency. There have been some ugly moments.

"We have a good game, and then we don't play so well, and then we have a good game," he said. "We preached all week and in the locker room tonight to play four quarters. They were on a mission to prove some people wrong that have been doubting us a little bit."

There was little doubt in this one. Unrated Thomas Jefferson, a Class 4-A school in Iowa, improved to 9-6 on the season, while St. Albert, rated No. 6 in western Iowa (2-A/1-A), dropped to 8-8.

Lutz said his team often plays loose and well against opponents it feels it should beat. He wants to extend that to all the Jackets' foes.

"It's confidence," he said. "There's some teams that our guys feel like, 'We should beat this team.' And they go out and perform. Now we're just trying to get them to believe that they can beat anybody."

Want some evidence that the Yellow Jackets were on a roll? Junior forward Andy Gray scored a team-high 20 points, surpassing his career high by 15. He made 8 of 11 from the field and 4 of 5 at the line.

Junior David Calloway buried three first-quarter 3-pointers to get the ball rolling for the hosts. He finished with 18 points, six steals and six assists. Calloway also played the top of the Jackets' 1-3-1 and 1-2-2 zones, creating havoc for the Falcons. Thomas Jefferson forced 27 turnovers.

"Our turnovers obviously sparked their offense," St. Albert coach Dale Scott said. "We simply didn't attack (their zones). We were too passive. We're just not playing to our capabilities right now."

Thomas Jefferson scored the final 10 points of the half to hold a commanding 47-17 lead at the intermission. They expanded it to 52-19 early in the third and coasted home.

Sean Johnson, a 6-foot-3 senior, turned in a superb all-around game for Thomas Jefferson with 16 points, six assists, six rebounds and five steals.

"Sean does everything for us," Lutz said. "He's our team leader, he's our vocal leader."

Marc Baumert led St. Albert with 20 points and 12 rebounds.


CB St. Albert.........................10 7 14 22-53
CB Thomas Jefferson.........................25 22 16 22-85
• SA: Nolan Batten 4-6 0-0 8, Quinn Walsh 1-4 0-0 3, C.J. Gradoville 2-8 0-0 5, Matt Herrington 0-4 0-0 0, Marc Baumert 8-15 2-2 20, Doug Moran 4-10 0-0 11, Alan Caniglia 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Waters 2-4 0-1 4, Jake Hoffa 0-1 0-0 0, Matt O'Malley 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Marshall 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 22-54 2-3 53.
• TJ: Sean Johnson 7-13 1-1 16, Ole Olsen 5-8 2-4 13, Andy Gray 8-11 4-5 20, David Calloway 7-18 1-3 18, Mike Richardson 6-6 2-3 14, Joey Pogge 0-0 0-0 0, Brian Clark 0-1 0-0 0, Brian Meyer 1-1 0-0 2, James Driver 1-1 0-0 2, Ryan Peckham 0-0 0-0 0, Scott Showers 0-1 0-0 0, Josh Kuhl 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 35-60 10-16 85.
• 3-point goals: SA 7-23 (Moran 3-8, Baumert 2-5, Gradoville 1-4, Walsh 1-4, Herrington 0-2), TJ 5-13 (Calloway 3-9, Johnson 1-1, Olsen 1-3). Fouled out: none. Rebounds: SA 32 (Baumert 12), TJ 28 (Richardson 7). Assists: SA 15 (Gradoville 4, Waters 4), TJ 19 (Johnson 6, Calloway 6). Technical fouls: Batten. Total fouls: SA 13, TJ 10. Turnovers: SA 27, TJ 15.

Kevin White; Omaha World Herald