Dunbar

Down 18 points at the half and 11 points in the closing minutes, it took a total team effort from East Jessamine to pull off a thrilling 96-91 win over Dunbar on Tuesday night. With only 1:23 remaining in the game, Dunbar converted on a pair of free throws to take an 80-69 lead over the Jaguars. East's fate seemed to be sealed despite a hard-fought comeback earlier in the quarter. But the Jaguars would not be denied a chance to knock off a Region 11 opponent on its home floor. “We preach resiliency; we've been going through tons and tons of scenarios in practice and trying to get them to understand that they have to believe in each other, and if they go as hard as they can, the sky is the limit.

East Jessamine won knotched its second win of the season on Friday by beating Dunbar 34-20. The Jaguars were led by Cameron Thomas who scored four times. He rushed for 265 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries. The senior also caught a 52-yard touchdown pass at the end of the second quarter to give East a 20-7 lead at the half. For a full recap of the game, see The Journal on Thursday.  

On Aug. 28, East Jessamine lost to Madison Central at home 2-1. Coach Tom Morgan took the loss in stride, seeing it more as a wake-up call at the time and knowing that a much bigger game against Central could lie ahead. That much bigger game happened Tuesday night as both East and Central were playing with their seasons on the line in the regional semifinal. The Jags were able to take some pressure off themselves early. Sam Miller got free about two minutes into the game and buried one in the net to give East a 1-0 lead.

Going into the locker room with a 35-32 lead over No. 19 ranked Dunbar, East Jessamine coach Chris O'Bryan told his team to be prepared for a more aggressive Bulldog attack in the second half. O'Bryan proved to be a soothsayer, and Dunbar (15-8) did turn up the intensity and quickly took over the game in the second half en route to an 88-77 win. “They really started getting after us, and we talked about that at halftime that their intensity was going to pick up,” O'Bryan said.

The East Jessamine boys' soccer season came to a quiet close on Oct. 12 as the Jaguars lost to Dunbar 3-1 in the 27th District semifinals. East, which upset rival West Jessamine in the first round of the tournament, took an early lead on Dunbar. Sophomore Sam Miller scored in the 19th minute to give East a 1-0 advantage. “We got one nice look, and we scored on it,” East coach Tom Morgan said. However, Dunbar's defense kept the Jags from getting many good looks the rest of the game.

The East Jessamine boys’ soccer team made school history several times this season. Winning a record 18 games and winning its first regional tournament game were stepping stones to the ultimate goal of making the state tournament for the first time in school history. “I couldn’t be more proud of them,” East coach Tom Morgan said. “Last year we set the bar, we had some goals in mind. I put it to them to win 18 games, and that’s what they did. This is one of the best groups I could have imagined.

When East Jessamine took the field Friday night at Dunbar, it was with a new-look offense that was launched 10 days before. On Aug. 29, East quarterback Skyler Rose notified the team that he would need season-ending ankle surgery. Lucky for the Jags, they didn't have a game that week and were able to institute a new offense centered around sophomore Ronnie Carson. “The Jets run it; Denver ran it; let's go with (Tim) Tebow-style stuff and just put an athlete back there and see what it looks like,” East coach Mike Bowlin said.

The West Jessamine boys' basketball team picked up a big win Thursday night by defeating Dunbar 81-71. The Colts recognized seniors Jeff Ziemann, Heath Jackson and DeShawn Eubanks prior to the game, and the seniors responded by helping West to its 17th win of the year. Ziemann put together a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds; he also had six assists. Jackson and Eubanks each scored six points. “I told my assistants before the game, in all my years I've seen a lot of seniors come out on senior night and shoot the ball really well and I was willing to give them a little bit of freedom early to see,” West Jessamine coach Damon Kelley said.

­­East Jessamine stranded nine base runners, four of whom were in scoring position, in the Jaguars' 3-1 loss at Dunbar Saturday. “We had every opportunity, especially early in the game, to break the game wide open,” East Jessamine coach Kevin Clary said. “If we could have gotten off to a good start, it may have been a different outcome ... We had every opportunity, and that's very frustrating.” Down 1-0 in the top of the third inning, Billy Russell led off the frame with a walk and stole second base to get into scoring position with no outs.

Fast-forward 30 days from the planned season-opener and the meeting between West Jessamine boys' tennis team and Dunbar finally occured. In that span of time, head coach Josh Yost's group has went 4-3. Friday's match continued to confirm Yost's thoughts on his team - senior Andrew Monell can continue to hold his own against the strongest of area competition, and senior Grant Wells is becoming what Yost thought he could - a trustworthy No....

NICHOLASVILLE - Brad McNew wants his team to be tested by the time the postseason rolls around, so the Lincoln County coach is trying to get the best teams possible on the Patriots' schedule. The Patriots fell behind quickly to No. 16 Paul Dunbar on Friday night and lost to the Bulldogs 6-1 at the West Jessamine Classic. On Saturday, Lincoln (7-8) was scheduled to play No. 10 West Jessamine and a Greenwood team which was 10-5 coming into the weekend. “I like the challenge, that's what I was telling the guys.

The Centre College and Transylvania University baseball teams will hold a fundraising drive at their game Wednesday at Gary Wright Field for Travis Gaines, a Lexington high school baseball player who was seriously injured during his team's spring break trip last week. The teams will take donations at the 5:30 p.m. game, and both schools are also conducting fundraising drives on campus. Gaines, a senior at Paul Dunbar, plans to play baseball at Centre. He was injured while swimming in the Gulf of Mexico during his team's trip to Destin, Fla. If you would like to make a donation, visit https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/bTlzd?

Going into the locker room with a 35-32 lead over No. 19 ranked Dunbar, East Jessamine coach Chris O'Bryan told his team to be prepared for a more aggressive Bulldog attack in the second half. O'Bryan proved to be a soothsayer, and Dunbar (15-8) did turn up the intensity and quickly took over the game in the second half en route to an 88-77 win. “They really started getting after us, and we talked about that at halftime that their intensity was going to pick up,” O'Bryan said.

A principal from Argentina is getting a taste of central Kentucky and Jessamine County during a visit this month as part of an administrator-exchange program. Liliana Genero is one of 16 Argentine educators selected to participate in the program through the U.S. Department of State. Genero is being hosted for three weeks by Rosenwald-Dunbar Elementary School assistant principal April Wood, who will travel to Argentina to visit with Genero for three weeks in the summer while schools are in session there.

LEXINGTON - Matt Vogel coaches two of Paul Dunbar's starting defensive players on his club team, so Mercer County's first-year head coach knew how good the Bulldogs' defense would be. It showed it, as the state's second-ranked team shut down the No. 9 Titans in a 4-0 victory at Dunbar in the first round of the boys state soccer tournament. “They were both center backs and defenders, unfortunately,” Vogel said of Dunbar starters Nick Dimeo and Davoud Saghaian. “I told them after the game, 'You've got to let us win at least one ball.'” But those two are just an example of the all-around talent Mercer (21-4-1)

When East Jessamine took the field Friday night at Dunbar, it was with a new-look offense that was launched 10 days before. On Aug. 29, East quarterback Skyler Rose notified the team that he would need season-ending ankle surgery. Lucky for the Jags, they didn't have a game that week and were able to institute a new offense centered around sophomore Ronnie Carson. “The Jets run it; Denver ran it; let's go with (Tim) Tebow-style stuff and just put an athlete back there and see what it looks like,” East coach Mike Bowlin said.

It was a year ago that the East Jessamine football team got the program's first win over a Lexington opponent with a 34-20 win against Paul Laurence Dunbar. This Friday when East travels to Dunbar, it will be looking for its first win of the season. The Jags sit at 0-2 for the first time since 2005. They lost the opener to Somerset by 14 points and they lost two weeks ago to Spencer County by 10. East has done a good job holding opponents off the scoreboard, but moving the ball has been a struggle.

On paper, East Jessamine boys' basketball vs Dunbar on Feb. 7 doesn't look that significant. The Jaguars beat a non-district, non-region opponent 96-91 in overtime. But for those in attendance, the game was as thrilling and nail-biting as high-school basketball games can get. We present the game story in its entirety. LEXINGTON - Down 18 points at the half and 11 points in the closing minutes, it took a total team effort from East Jessamine to pull off a thrilling 96-91 win over Dunbar on Tuesday night.