DANDRIDGE --- For one quarter Friday night, Cherokee was up 13-12 on Jefferson County, one of three teams tied for first place in the Inter Mountain Athletic Conference.Then the bottom fell in when almost every shot for Jefferson County was going in. The home Patriots proved to be rude hosts, pounding the Chiefs from the second quarter on, handing Cherokee a 59-46 loss.This was easily the Chiefs’ worst loss since a 64-36 loss to Berkmar, GA on December 27 in the Arby’s Classic.The Patriots won the 10th of their last 12 games in improving to 14-6 overall, 7-1 in the IMAC. Cherokee is 13-9, 6-2 in IMAC play. Cherokee is one game better than Cocke County. A Tuesday night game at the Teepee against the Fighting Cocks was postponed due to inclement weather. No makeup date had been announced at press time.Jeff County outscored the Chiefs 16-8 in the second, 15-11 in the third, and 16-13 in the final stanza.“It was a really physical game. I feel like we didn’t rise to the occasion very well, but I saw some bright spots out of us,” Cherokee coach Jeremy Parrott said, “Overall, I felt like the hustle wasn’t there when it needed to be and we weren’t quite as physical as Jefferson County was. “When you run into a team that shoots well and still beats you to loose balls, it’s not going to add up for you. They played well. I hate it because there was a lot on the line, but it’s still a little more than halfway through the season.”Leading the way for Cherokee was Forrest Looney with 16 points along with six rebounds. “Forrest played well,” Parrott said, “We talked at halftime about getting him some looks at the baseline to get his man in space and drive the baseline. Forrest did a nice job of that. Maybe that’s something we can maximize on a little bit moving forward and get him scoring more consistently.”Tanner Trent was next with 13 points, followed by Ty Ryans with 10. Tyler Ringley had five rebounds for Cherokee.“I thought we missed a lot of looks that we would have normally made. There were a couple of layups that rattled out, and a couple of free throws that we had an opportunity to keep the game a little closer. Such as it is on the road in the conference, we’re going to get everybody’s best shot, especially after the season he had last year and where we are now, (when Cherokee plays) it’s going to be a game everybody gets up for. We’ve got to be a little more ready for that. We’ve got to win and stay in front of folks (in the conference) and give ourselves a chance to be in games like this where there is a lot on the line. You can only do that by taking them one at a time and trying to win,” Parrott added. Just as the Chiefs missed several shots to get the game closer, Cherokee didn’t help their cause on defense, turning the ball over 17 times in the contest.Cherokee will attempt to avenge two early-season defeats this week, traveling to Seymour Friday before hosting Class A Cloudland in a non-conference return match Saturday night.