Jaguars

The boys' soccer preseason rankings were released Wednesday by the state coaches' association. The East Jessamine Jaguars are ranked No. 19 to start the year. East won its first match of the season Tuesday night, defeating Southwestern 5-0. The Jaguars (1-0-0) went 18-5-2 in 2010, falling in the 14th Region championship to Dunbar.

In its first district game of the season, East Jessamine defeated  Woodford  County 21-0. Cameron Thomas rushed for three touchdowns and 191 yards. The Jaguars picked up 297 yards on the ground utilizing seven different ball carriers. The defense dominated in its first shutout of the season, holding the Yellow Jackets to 95 total yards of offense. The loss was Woodford's first of the season. East improves  to 4-1, winning its fourth straight game.

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 earned its 19th win of the season Tuesday night by beating Burgin 79-63 at home. The Jaguars are just one win away from their third consecutive 20-win season. The victory over Burgin came relatively easily as East jumped out to any early 8-1 lead with the help of five points by Hayden Smith. Smith, a sophomore, scored 15 points on the night. East had raced out to a 15-5 lead by the end of the first quarter and led 20-5 in the first minute of the second. “At times, (we played)

Following its upset loss to rival West Jessamine, East Jessamine suffered its worst loss of the season on Friday by losing to Anderson County 50-16. The Jaguars defense gave up a season-high 50 points and allowed 389 yards, 346 of which were through the air. “I told the kids all week we just had to play really good pass defense,” East coach Mike Bowlin said. “We tried something that we've had in our repertoire all year long to play some man-to-man coverage. I never dreamt they would out run us that bad on the deep routes ... it was just one of those nights where it all fell apart in the secondary.” East (5-4 overall, 2-3 district)

The East Jessamine boys' basketball team walked into a trap in its own gym on Tuesday, but used a second-half rally to defeat Madison Southern 76-66. It was a trap game of sorts for the Jaguars, who were going for their 17th win of the season against a team that had just five thus far. The Jaguars (17-4) were playing out of control throughout the first quarter, which allowed Madison Southern (5-12) to take a 10-5 lead. East settled down enough to tie the game on a three-pointer by Tashan Hairston and a basket by Cody Collins, who had seven of team's first 10 points.

Entering Saturday night’s match between East Jessamine and Madison Central, most expected the Jaguars to handle the Indians and cruise to 4-0 on the season. But the Tribe had other plans, shocking the No. 7-ranked Jags, 2-1. “They out-played us,” East Jessamine coach Tom Morgan said. “They wanted it more; they played hard, and they got the win that they deserved. They just flat out-played us, and hats off to them; they deserved every bit of that win.” Morgan was disappointed in the way his team came out. He said they weren’t playing as a team and lacked focus.

East Jessamine exerted itself over rival West Jessamine on Friday, beating the Colts 78-60. The Jaguars (14-4 overall, 3-0 district) proved they could score from anywhere on the court if they used their plethora of guards effectively. East outscored West 44-20 in the paint and hit seven three-pointers. The Colts (9-6, 1-1), who had a height advantage, were able to outrebound East 35-25 but shot 40 percent from the floor and committed 23 turnovers. “We had to play a complete game defensively.

What began as breakfast with a few friends from the East Jessamine High School football team has turned into a Saturday morning event at Ruth Webster’s home with up to 25 football players. The players cram into Webster’s duplex and enjoy a bevy of breakfast foods including eggs, bacon, sausage and pancakes. The event has been named Nana’s Breakfast of Champions by Webster’s friend, Brenda Russell. “She (Russell) said it was cooked with love and blessed with kindness,” Webster said.

Two days into their Fort Walton Beach, Fla., tournament the East Jessamine Jaguars baseball team sits at 1-1. With a box score removed from view, that notion would leave some scratching their heads. Yet, with offense being a premium, the Jaguars held tight to their pitching ways. Monday, against Fort Walton Beach, the Jaguars fell 1-0 in the 14th inning. Starting junior pitcher John Hisle threw a no-hitter through seven innings of action but was pulled after play continued beyond regulation times.

East Jessamine softball's win on Friday didn't come easy. As a matter of fact, the reaction of the Lady Jags might have led you to believe they lost. East, which won 5-4 over Lexington Catholic in the opening game of the Jaguars Classic, didn't play with focus, according to head coach Tom Hamm. The Lady Jags put the first runs of the game on the scoreboard in the third inning with a passed ball and the bat of freshman Allison Schubert leading the way. Senior Heather Welch and junior Katie Fischer opened the third with back-to-back singles.

Two days into their Fort Walton Beach, Fla., tournament the East Jessamine Jaguars baseball team sits at 1-1. With a box score removed from view, that notion would leave some scratching their heads. Yet, with offense being a premium, the Jaguars held tight to their pitching ways. Monday, against Fort Walton Beach, the Jaguars fell 1-0 in the 14th inning. Starting junior pitcher John Hisle threw a no-hitter through seven innings of action but was pulled after play continued beyond regulation times.

East Jessamine Middle School recognized its first “Mr. and Miss Jaguar” on Thursday, March 14, honoring eighth-graders who went “above and beyond” in the classroom and throughout the school, teacher Macy Andrews said. “We wanted to recognize them in a special way, so we came up with an award that we're going to start calling the Mr. and Miss Jaguar Award,” Andrews said during the assembly last week. “The faculty nominated eighth-grade students, and we came up with a finalists list.” From seven boy finalists and seven girl finalists, the winners were Aaron Drury and Jessica Justice.

The implementation of a new coach in any sport can often end with negative results, as was the case last year for East Jessamine's high school baseball team. Those negatives resulted in the Jaguars taking their fair share of bumps. However, those bumps at the same time can have positives dawn upon them. East head coach Kevin Clary said with the Jaguars returning a majority of the starters, he expects “to see remarkable improvement over last year.” “It's been a lot easier this pre-season, especially when we can't get outside much,” Clary said.

Among the participants at Saturday's first-ever KHSAA sanctioned state cheerleading competition at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green was the East Jessamine Jaguars' Coed squad. The Jaguars, who got to the state level by way of claiming the 12th Region title in class 2A, ranked No. 10 at the end of Saturday's competition with a score of 237. Fellow 12th Region participants in class 2A included Southwestern and Pulaski Co, who ranked  No. 2 and No. 5 in the All-Girl Small and Medium categories, respectively.

Going into Tuesday night, the East Jessamine girls' basketball team was enjoying a season to remember as the Lady Jaguars had posted a school-best 17-win season. On Tuesday against the Burgin Lady Bulldogs (14-14), East Jessamine (17-9) had a game it would rather forget as the Lady Jags fell 48-31 in the first round of the 46th District tournament. “It was just one of those nights where nothing went right,” East coach Jacqueline Coleman said. “It was one of those things where you don't really know how to coach them out of it.” East opened the game searching for rhythm on offense, but when freshman Emma Young went to the bench with foul trouble midway through the opening quarter, the Lady Jags found themselves in a quick hole at 8-2 following a bucket by Burgin's Summer Burke.

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.

East Jessamine, which is on its way to its first winning season in a decade, beat rival West Jessamine on Friday night for the season sweep. The Lady Jaguars were led by Sarah Rainwater, who poured in 16 points with key free throws coming in the third quarter and late in the game. Following a back-and-forth first period that ended with an 11-11 tie, the game slowed to a standstill in the second period due to missed shots and fouls. East scored just seven points in the second quarter and West scored eight to give the Colts a 19-18 lead at halftime.

East Jessamine opened 2013 with an embarrassing 27-point loss at the hands of its rival West Jessamine. Since the Jan. 4 loss, the Jaguars have been on a tear, winning seven games in a row by an average of 15 points. Friday, East was able to avenge its loss to the Colts with a 74-68 victory in The Jungle. After trailing by as many as 13 points in the first half, West Jessamine battled back in the first two quarters and tied the game 66-66 with 1:23 remaining in the game. After a Robby Irgang basket knotted the game, East took the ball downcourt and began milking the clock.

East Jessamine earned its 19th win of the season Tuesday night by beating Burgin 79-63 at home. The Jaguars are just one win away from their third consecutive 20-win season. The victory over Burgin came relatively easily as East jumped out to any early 8-1 lead with the help of five points by Hayden Smith. Smith, a sophomore, scored 15 points on the night. East had raced out to a 15-5 lead by the end of the first quarter and led 20-5 in the first minute of the second. “At times, (we played)