Dylan Pohl scored the first bucket of the half and extended the Colts' lead to six points but a Matt Fitch 3-point bucket split the lead in half. The Colts stretched the lead back out to four points but a Clay McKenzie 3-pointer drew the Jaguars to within one. The two teams were not seperated by more than three points again until the final minutes.
Jarrod Polson tied the game at 42-42 with a 3-point basket at the 1:45 mark. The Colts scored again but a Seth Corman 3-pointer gave the Jaguars the lead at 45-44. Right before the end of the third quarter, though, Polson gave the Colts a lead.
Polson was the game's top scorer with 24 points.
The fourth quarter started with a Stephan Smith bucket and Jordan Redd free throw for East. Polson added a pair of free throws and proved to be the only Colt comfortable at the foul line.
Worley answered with a bucket and Polson nailed a 3-point bucket to give the Colts a 51-50 lead. Darrius Jackson hit one of two free throws to tie the game yet again. McKenzie broke the tie with a free throw. From there the game turned into the Jaguars versus Rehner as he scored six straight points for West while four different Jaguars scored.
East picked up the moment and put together the deadly 12-3 run to finish the game at 68-60.
Worley paced the Jaguars with 14 points while McKenzie added 13 and seven rebounds.
The team seemed to feed off Worley's work inside.
"It wasn't just me," Worley admitted. "It was the passes I got. I got some great passes. We slowed the game down and (my teammates) made good decisions."
In the fourth quarter, there was a stretch where Mckenzie grabbed four straight. Kyle Lamb also picked up 13 points and Jackson tossed in 11. Fitch and Redd each had six.
Rehner supported Polson's 24 with 17 of his own and nearly had a double-double, picking up nine boards. Nick Ziemann collected eight points while Pohl tossed in six.
The Jaguars are now 3-0 in district play and are in the driver's seat for the rest of the district schedule. Their remaining district games are at home.
For East Coach Chris O'Bryan, he was most impressed with his club's tenacity.
"They had a battle on their hands," he said. "They're down four at the half, down one to start the fourth quarter, and I thought they fought well and they did what it took to win. That's a sign of a championship team. Now we've just got to keep improving."
Not just one team leader stepped up for the Jaguars. The leadership by committee was taking turns.
"I thought Darrius did a great job," O'Bryan said. "At halftime, Darrius was the leader. And at timeouts, Seth Corman stepped up. It was a total team effort, and if they hadn't come together like that in the third and fourth quarter, we wouldn't have come away with a win."
The Jaguars are now 3-0 in district play and are in the driver's seat for the rest of the district schedule. Their remaining district games are at home.
"We don't control our own destiny now," West Coach Robert Hammonds said. "East controls their destiny."
The loss can't be blamed on lack of effort, though, Hammonds said.
"I thought our inexperience showed up just a little bit," he said. "And I expected that. Give East credit, they've got experienced players and they made the plays down the stretch they had to make."
Both teams have to play Mercer once more, and they a rematch date set for Feb. 6 at East.
"We know what we have to go back and wrong," Hammonds said. "We'll be ready."
The Colts travel to Burgin tonight and the face Gallatin County in then Jaguar Classic Saturday at 6 p.m.
The Jaguars host McCreary Central Friday before hosting the Jaguar Classic Saturday.
