All the things Lincoln couldn't seem to do right at East, fell into place at West.
"Isn't it unbelievable, that as down as we were the other night, we can come out and get up like we did tonight,� said Jackson. "It was just a great job by the kids.�
"It just goes to show what hard work can do for you,� he said. "We had great practices coming into this game and we kept working hard in the game. We've got to make sure we keep working hard - every day, every game.�
Scoring was spread out for Lincoln over the first quarter with Chase Overstreet, Matt Reynolds, Braxton Miller, Kelly Reed and Zack Kersey each getting a field goal and Young adding two foul shots.
The Pats were up four when Reed got the steal and layup then Kersey made it a 17-9 margin battling past the triple coverage of West Jessamine's Joey Sideranko, Brian Johnson and Zack Fain for the basket inside.
Ten points, a margin earned off a Young feed to Miller for a bucket, was the Pats' largest lead of the first half. Miller took the pass for the two points for the quarter-opening goal of the second.
Fain, who finished with 14 points for the Colts, chipped in with nine of those points in the second quarter to help pull West Jessamine within five. Fain opened with an easy layup off a rebound, then scored off a Gulian Blanton steal. He boosted his point total at the foul line sinking four free throws to make it a 28-23 ballgame with 1:31 on the clock.
Fain would be good for one more foul shot before the buzzer but a bucket from the paint by Trent Calhoun in the closing seconds put Lincoln up 30-24 at the half.
The margin was at 30-26 as the second half opened with Johnson, who led the night's scoring with 18 points for the Colts, going inside for the score.
Lincoln's Overstreet, who was 4-for-7 from the field and 3-for-5 from the line for 11 points, collected over half of his points in the second quarter to hold West Jessamine (3-2) at bay.
Overstreet tallied his first third-quarter goal off a layup then put the exclamation point on a Calhoun steal with a backboard-jarring slam dunk.
The dunk by the 6'0� junior made it a 38-28 game with 4:09 to play in the period.
"He played well tonight,� said Jackson of the first-year Pat. "He's trying to fit in and is still getting comfortable. The kids are very receptive and he's working and playing hard.�
"He can help us in a lot of ways and tonight he scored well, he rebounded well and he defended well,� he added. "Both he and Trent (Calhoun) are strong enough and quick enough to be great defensive players.�
Sideranko drained a trey for the Colts to take it back under 10 when Calhoun answered in the paint to start a 7-2 run. Overstreet followed with a shot from two then Ralston pumped in a three-point shot making it 45-33 heading into the fourth.
Lincoln's Reynolds, who shared team scoring honors with Overstreet on identical shooting stats (4-for-7 field, 3-for-5 line) for 11 points, scored on the putback with 4:10 to play to give the Pats' their biggest lead of the game, 51-36.
Still down 15 with 2:02 in the game, West Jessamine made a run at trimming the Pat lead. Johnson turned a steal and a turnover into back-to-back Colt baskets and Fain went to the line for a free throw for a 57-47 score.
The Colts would get no closer. Lincoln went 5-for-6 from the foul line in the final 30 seconds to put the game away. Overstreet scored his last three points at the line and Reynolds sank two shots for the 62-48 final.
After watching Lincoln lose a 12-point lead and the game against East Jessamine, Jackson sat uneasy on the sidelines as the Colts tried for the late rally.
"When they made that run at the end, I was kind of worried but we kind of hung in there,� he said. "We showed a little toughness and that's something we talked to them about. We have to show toughness in games to win and we need to continue to develop on what we did tonight.�
"When they started to make a run on us the other night (East Jessamine), we got down but we didn't get down on ourselves tonight,� said Jackson. "We showed a toughness that we need to have.�
Lincoln outshot West Jessamine making good on 20 of 48 shots for 42 percent while the Colts were 14 of 42 for 35 percent.
At the line, both teams saw their share of misses with Lincoln going 19-for-29 and West Jessamine, 17-for-28.
"We've got to make them,� said Jackson of the free throws. "We work and work on them in practice but we just don't do a very good job in the games. We've definitely got to start making more in games.�
Lincoln outrebounded West Jessamine 36-27 and had 11 turnovers to the Colts 18.
Reynolds led the Lincoln charge on the glass with nine rebounds, Overstreet grabbed eight boards, Miller had six and Calhoun and Young had four boards apiece.
Fain was West Jessamine's top rebounder with seven boards.
