High school basketball: Jaguars continue dominance

WEST JORDAN — Everyone knew West Jordan's boys basketball team would be good with the addition of Skyline transfer Jaden Jackson, but what the Jaguars have done the first three games this season has been jaw-dropping.

After beating Bingham by 35 points last Friday, West Jordan dismantled visiting Syracuse 79-49 on Wednesday night, a game that wasn't even that close. It led by 47 points when coach Scott Briggs pulled his starters with 6:16 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Between the last two quarters of the Bingham game and the first three quarters of the Syracuse game, the Jaguars outscored their opponents 120-49.

University of Utah commit Jordan Loveridge believes unselfishness is the key to it all.

"We're mostly playing for each other. We set aside what everyone's saying, we just want to play as a team and win as a team. We've all been playing together for a long time now, we know each other and we're like family, we go play for each other," said Loveridge.

West Jordan's big three were dominant as usual against Syracuse (1-3).

Loveridge led the way with 26 points, while Jordan Pryor chipped in with 25 on four 3-pointers and Jackson added 15 points and seven steals.

"I've always maintained on a high school team, if you get two pretty good players you'll be able to compete, and if you get three you've got a chance to be really good," said Briggs. "We feel like we have more than three really good players."

Seth Barrus and DeShawn Perkins round out West Jordan's starting lineup, and Briggs believes both are capable of making big contributions.

In a classification with two other elite teams in Lone Peak and American Fork, it's going to take more than three really good players to a win a state championship this year. Even though it's still very early in the season, West Jordan certainly appears capable of getting it done.

Defense is a big reason why. Trailing 6-5 just a few minutes into the first quarter, the Jaguars ended the quarter on a 19-2 run, capitalizing on five Syracuse turnovers. By halftime they had extended the lead to 43-16.

"You get on a little bit of a roll and play well defensively and get some good shots early, teams get down and it changes the way they play. They start rushing things early and get out of what they want to do," said Briggs.

Jackson was a big part of that defensive effort as he tries to dispel the notion that he can't play defense.

"Last year they saw me just as a scorer, so this whole summer everybody was telling me I couldn't play defense and that I needed to pick up my defense up if I want to get to that next level, and I've really been trying to focus on that," said Jackson.

For 26 of 32 minutes on Tuesday before the starters exited the game, West Jordan played a nearly flawless game. If that continues, the Jags' junior varsity guys will get a lot of varsity playing time — something they struggled with, going nearly four minutes without scoring after entering the game.

Email: jedward@desnews.com