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By Clinton Riddle

Correspondent

East boys top Woodford, blast Burgin
Ben McNew led the Jaguars (4-1) over the Yellow Jackets (4-3) in a nail-biter, 66-65.

McNew sank 29 points on 11-16 shooting (68.8%), with Devin Johnson and Zion Thomas adding 15 each, in the team’s second one-point victory since the season opener vs. Madison Southern. Thomas scored eleven of his fifteen points at the free-throw line (11-14, 78.6% FT pct) while spending much of the game on the boards, finishing with eight rebounds to lead the team.

Caleb Smith finished with six points, while Collin McElfresh had one.

McNew and Smith each finished with five rebounds, while Cam Thompson and Johnson had three, and McElfresh had two.

Johnson led the team in assists with five, while Thompson had four and Thomas finished with two.

Notably, McNew raised his per-game scoring average to the twenty-point mark and currently leads the team in overall FG pct. (56.8%), as well as three-point pct. (45.9%).

East Jessamine 70, Burgin 37
The Jaguars (5-1) nearly doubled-up the Bulldogs (1-5) in a 70-37 blowout, with McNew again breaking the 20-point mark.

The team’s leading scorer finished the game with 22 points on 9-15 shooting (60%), while Thomas was second with 12. The scoring was spread out beyond that, with McElfresh, Thompson, Derek Kahler, and Will Hatter scoring six, each. Turner

Shouse scored five, as did Isaiah Daniel, with Hayden Frazier and Caleb Smith finishing with one, each.

Thompson had four steals in the game, while McNew had three and McElfresh had two. Smith, Kahler, and Turner Shouse each had one.

The Jaguars had their third COVID cancellation on Saturday. They faced visiting Garrard County on Jan. 27 after press time and will face the Colts at EJHS Friday.

Paris edges East girls, 49-47
The Lady Hounds (6-1) needed overtime to beat the Lady Jaguars (1-5) on Wednesday.

Iesha Dean finished with a double-double (11 pts., 11 reb.), while Jaila Yeast led scoring with 12 points and Jermyra Christian scored 10. Hannah Mclain had six points, Irma Hagins had five, and Reece Evans had three.

Mclain and Yeast had seven rebounds each, while Christian had four and Evans had two.

Through six games, Dean is averaging nearly a double-double per game (12.5 pts., 9.5 reb.), while Christian is leading the team in scoring at 15.8 points per game.

Madison Central’s game at East on Jan. 21, as well as the Nicholas County and Danville games have all been canceled. The remainder of East Jessamine’s girls’ basketball games for January are now COVID cancellations, bringing the team’s total number to seven.

West girls fall to Nelson, 65-53
The Lady Colts (2-5), coming off a week of inactivity since games on Jan. 19 and Jan. 21 were canceled due to COVID, lost to the Lady Cards (6-2) on a night when West struggled from the field.

West Jessamine shot only 35.8% overall (19-53), though they did sink seven of 15 from three-point range.

Blake Wiley and Haylee Rutherford each scored 11 points, while Anaya Chestnut scored nine, Alleyse Steinkuhl scored eight, Katherine Reed had six, Abby Jo Fitch and Isabella Lewis each finished with three, and Delaysia Thomas scored two.

Steinkuhl led the team with five rebounds, while Thomas, Wiley, and Lewis each had four. Chestnut and Aaliyah Edenstrom each had three, Rutherford had two boards, and Reed and Maggie Shelton each had one.

Over seven games, West has hit only 27.9% from the field and is shooting just 56.9% from the free-throw line.

West Jessamine’s next game is scheduled for Jan. 30, a road game with Beechwood, as they have upcoming COVID cancellations on Jan. 26 and Jan. 29.