Jessie Quarles netted 13 points, Renae Brooks collected 12 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots and Mandy Dix scored 11 points and distributed six assists to lead host Jefferson Forest to a 43-29 win over Heritage in a Seminole District tournament opener Monday night.

Playing on the road in the Seminole District is never easy.

Factor in the emotions that accompany Senior Night and the task becomes doubly difficult.

Despite the numerous roadblocks that the Staunton River Golden Eagles (18-3) faced, they hurdled all of them on their way to a 38-31 victory over Jefferson Forest, putting the finishing touches on a 12-0 district record in the process.

FOREST — Chris Harmon doesn’t easily give up on a missed shot. Twice early in the fourth quarter of Liberty’s 61-54 win at Jefferson Forest on Friday night, Harmon drove hard in the lane, missed, but outworked his defender to the ball for an easy putback.

Trailing 27-22 to start the fourth quarter, Thursday night at Seminole District rival Jefferson Forest, Brookville junior point guard Emilee Dunton took matters into her own hands to get the ball to her teammates inside.

The Bees (12-1, 7-1 Seminole) rallied to capture the lead for good just two minutes into the final period and held on for a critical 33-30 victory over the Cavaliers.

Fueled by eight second-half points from Mandy Dix and a 22-point fourth quarter, the Jefferson Forest Cavaliers pulled away from a tough Heritage squad to post a 51-42 Seminole District victory Monday night.

BRIDGEWATER — Coming into Friday’s Division 4, Region III semifinal game against Jefferson Forest, Turner Ashby’s biggest win came on the foot of its kicker.

It seemed ironic then, that its most devastating loss came on another team’s extra point.

After scrimmaging Turner Ashby in the preseason and watching film on tonight’s Division 4, Region III host, Jefferson Forest coach Don Rice considers the Knights as hard-hitting a team as any the Cavaliers have faced this season.

“It was a very even scrimmage,” he said. “It was very physical. I’d put it up there with Brookville and Amherst and Pulaski County,” the three teams that have beaten the Cavaliers (7-3).

BEDFORD — Dozens of students, parents and community members showed support Thursday at a Bedford County School Board meeting for the creation of a school-sponsored lacrosse team at Jefferson Forest High School.

FOREST — A mosh pit of players, coaches and fans hugged, high-fived and hollered at the 35-yard line of Jefferson Forest’s football field Friday night.

It was a celebration befitting a first-time playoff winner. But the rest of the night the Cavaliers looked like postseason veterans.

It’s been nearly 10 years since Jefferson Forest’s football team qualified for postseason play.

Tonight at 7:30, the Cavaliers (7-3), seeded third in the Region III, Division 4 playoffs, host Rockbridge, a team they beat 40-6 on Aug. 29 at home.

BEDFORD — There’s no way Jefferson Forest running back Desmond Goode should not have been taken down on each of his two second-half touchdown runs in Friday night’s regular-season finale at Seminole District and Bedford County rival Liberty.

But Goode, who finished with 184 yards rushing on 18 carries, eluded the initial tackles in traffic then emerged from a pack of Minutemen and accelerated up the sideline for 64- and 52-yard scores that sealed the Cavaliers’ 30-14 victory.

Thanks to the expanded Division 3 and 4 football playoff format, which qualifies six teams rather than four, Bedford County rivals Liberty and Jefferson Forest both have clinched Region III berths for the first time in the same season in recent history going into tonight’s Seminole District finale in Bedford.

But both teams, which sport identical 6-3 records (3-2 in district play) have plenty to play for — namely securing their No. 3 seeds and taking home-field advantage and momentum into the first round of the playoffs.

Brookville senior Janel Reeves won the Region III girls cross country championship Thursday at Weyers Cave Community Center in Fort Defiance, and Jefferson Forest’s girls snagged the team title by placing four runners in the top 10.

FOREST — Running negative splits — starting conservatively and finishing each mile with a faster time — has proven to be a successful tact for Jefferson Forest’s cross country teams.

That’s especially true on the Cavaliers’ 3.1-mile home course of Wolf Branch Farm, site of Wednesday’s Seminole District championships.

CROZET — Jefferson Forest’s golf team had a rough day out on the Old Trail Golf Club course in Tuesday’s final round of the Group AA state tournament.

The Cavaliers experienced trouble keeping their drives on the fairways and digging themselves out of the rough, starting and ending the second day in last place out of eight teams with aggregate scores of 322-328-350.