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To begin this season, teams at both East and West Jessamine High School had their own unique set of high hopes.
At the midway point, let’s see where teams our at so far.

West Jessamine Girls Basketball
The West Jessamine Lady Colts have overcome a number of naysayers en route to starting out 14-7, a notable improvement over their last two seasons in which they only won a combined total of 10 games.

“Everybody’s really starting to understand their roles. I think we’re really starting to turn the program around,” West Jessamine Coach Jana Hughes said.

Among their youth, 8 th grader Anaya Chestnut continues to develop offensively while 7 th grader Claire Marshall has been strong on the defensive side.
However, it’s in senior leadership where this team truly shines.

“They’ve literally done everything that we’ve ever asked them to do,” Coach Hughes states. “Aaliyah [Edenstrom] is coming in average a double-double, and Delaysia [Thomas] has been in there just pounding and stepping up at the post.”

A looming matchup on Feb. 1 st against Mercer County (12-7) will be a solid test in the 12th Region as the Lady Colts look to continue developing in preparation for District play.

West Jessamine Boys Basketball
Though the season started out slow with three losses, the Colts have come on strong since and won 12 of their last 18 games for a current 12-9 record.
They’re led by a pair of juniors in Daniel Waters, who in his last game against Southwestern pulled down 26 points, and Brett Bush.

While 6-2 in 12th Region play, the Boys are currently undefeated in District play. They share this unique
advantage with two other top teams of the 12 th Region – Pulaski County (20-0) and Boyle County (15-3).

They will be playing the latter to start the month of February in a game that will surely draw a crowd.

East Jessamine Girls Basketball
The Lady Jaguars’ record currently stands at 8-9, in a season that can be described as going back and forth.

After beginning the year 6-2, the team went through an unfortunate stretch in which they lost six
consecutive matchups. Since then, however, they’ve won 3 of 4 games against Burgin by forfeit, McCreary Central, and Wayne County.

They’ve done this largely behind junior Jermyra Christian, who frequently leads the team in scoring, along with strong defense from various individuals such as junior Iesha Dean.

They look to continue climbing up the ranks of the 12 th Region in February with games against the likes of West Jessamine (13-7), Danville Christian (15-4), and Somerset (10-7).

East Jessamine Boys Basketball
The Jaguars’ young squad will look to continue developing to improve upon their 3-17 record, and end an unfortunate 12-game losing streak.

Highlights of this year include an early season upset win against Wolfe County (14-6) in the Jim Lankster Classic, as well as a win against Somerset in only their second game of the season.

Several of their games lately have been close, with narrow defeats against Rowan County (8-14) and Mercer County (10-7).

Turner Shouse has emerged as a leader for the team on both ends of the floor, while players like Brycen Hubbard have contributed also.

Sports contributor Matt Cizek wrote this story for the Jessamine Journal.