Jackets give Indians a scare but fall 54-43
Jeff Davis High’s boys basketball season came to an end Friday night in Vidalia as Coach Thomas McAboy’s Jackets fell 54-43 to the No. 1 seeded Vidalia Indians in the second round of the state playoffs.
The Indians, 25-2, were heavy favorites to oust the No. 17 seeded Yellow Jackets, who finished the year at 19-10, but they found out early on that they were in for a battle. After the first quarter ended in a 14-14 tie, with the Jackets’ A.J. Sampson scoring 10 1st quarter points, the Jackets worked their way to a 25-24 halftime lead, with J.J. Benjamin hitting a pair of 3-pt. shots in the 2nd stanza and Jaiden West adding another.
But after intermission, the Indians’ smothering defense began to take control of the game. The Jackets managed only 9 3rd quarter points as Vidalia put special emphasis on stopping Benjamin, the Jackets’ leading scorer.
Vidalia pulled ahead 38-34 after three quarters and stretched their lead to the final 11 points despite the scoring efforts of Benjamin and Sampson.
Sampson finished with 20 points but the region Defensive Player of the Year was saddled with four fouls in the 4th quarter and had to play defense more cautiously.
Benjamin was also in double figures with 13 points but only four Jackets scored in the game as J.T. Bryant had 7 and Jaiden West 3.
Brycen Burns led Vidalia with 20 points.
Benjamin and West played their last game for the Yellow Jackets as they are the only seniors on this year’s team. With three starters — Sampson, Mark Durden and Kolby Jarrell — and the entire bench returning for next year, the prospects look good for another banner season in 2026-27.
Jeff Davis got into the second round of the playoffs by knocking off No. 16 seeded Toombs County 61-55 Wednesday night on the Bulldogs’ home court.
After a slow start in the opening quarter, the Jackets scored 20 in the 2nd quarter to take a 27-26 lead into the dressing room at intermission.
The Bulldogs used their long range shooting to pull away to a 39-35 lead entering the final quarter and that’s when Benjamin and Sampson went to work.
Sampson scored 11 4th quarter points and Benjamin scored 9 as the Jackets grabbed the lead then hit 8-of-11 free throws down the stretch to get their 6-pt. win.
Benjamin led four Jackets in double figures with 17 points. Bryant had 12, Sampson 11, Jarrell 10, Durden and Amare Burney 4 each, and West 3.
Toombs’ 6-8 center Parker Stanley led all scorers with 20.
Score by quarters:
JDHS 7 20 8 26 -61
TCHS 10 16 13 16 -55
JDHS 14 11 9 9 -43
VHS 14 10 14 16 -54
