The Jaguars coaches used a different substitution pattern, giving younger players district tournament experience and keeping their starters off the floor.
"We're trying to keep fresh legs for Thursday," Coach Crystal Dean. "We want to be fresh for Thursday's game against Mercer."
Even though the Jaguars have locked up a spot at the 12th region tournament, they still have their eyes set on repeating as 46th District champions.
"We still want Thursday's game," Dean said. "We want to be able to pull a two seed out of that hat as opposed to being drawn out of the hat. That can make a big difference."
Emily Underwood picked up 10 points in the win while Ashley Willoughby added eight.
Mercer defeated West Jessamine to move on to Thursday's title game. The Titans took the first meeting between the two teams 54-49 and the second meeting 65-57.
"Mercer has beat us twice this year, but we feel like we're ready for them," Dean said. "Past couple games we've got some really good looks. We just need to sink those shots. We have our offense where it needs to be, so we just need to make sure we hit our shots."
"It's going to take a team effort and some really good defense so they won't be shooting 3s in our eyes," Mitchell said. "So, we'll probably be working on that the next couple of days."
The Jaguars faced a similar situation last season. After losing twice in the regular season to the Titans, the Jaguars faced them a third time in the championship game and walked away with the upset win, giving East its first ever district basketball title.
The championship game begins Thursday at 7 p.m. Full coverage can be found at www.ckysports.com.
