West on the Ball Report

The West boys soccer team played a game in the rain tonight that featured the rain taking a halftime break with the players. Literally. At the end of the first half, the rain stopped, only to start back up again the moment the whistle blew signaling the beginning of the second half. The Colts beat LCA 2-0 in a muddy contest.

Turn your dials to WKYT this Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. for the Ball Report. Gary Ball will be highlighting the West Jessamine High football Colts as the team of the week. Coach Randy Wood has the Colts at a perfect 5-0 this season with an open date this Friday. After the break, West hosts Western Hills a week from tomorrow.

Enjoy!

New photos uploaded

I’ve got a bevy of photo galleries for you guys to peruse.

RJ Corman AJ Special

West boys soccer vs Dunbar

East girls soccer vs LCA

West girls soccer vs Campbell

East vs West volleyball

East vs West boys soccer

West football vs Iroquois

East girls soccer vs Danville

West football vs Madison Southern

East boys soccer vs Woodford

An idea and some sports photos uploaded

I’ve been researching through old copies of The Jessamine Journal in an effort to discover the all-time records between East and West Jessamine High Schools since Jessamine County split in 1997. While looking through those, Tyler and I started talking about different ways we could commemorate the first iteration of the East and West rivalry.

One idea started out as a kind of joke that eventually, the more we discussed, seemed very viable. What if we tracked down the first members of those teams and held a replay of those old rivalries. The first East and West basketball teams could meet for a fun game, or the first baseball teams could play a slow-pitch softball game. Football would be more difficult, but I’m sure we can get a flag football game started up. Of course, the soccer teams could just play as normal, albeit with much shorter halves. (Or maybe not, most of the rounded up former team members should be in their late 20s/early 30s, and if they think they can play 45 minute halves, then let’s rock and roll.)

We could plan a whole day of it, maybe at Asbury, if the school is willing, playing around the Luce Center, having a cook out, and just have a blast. It would be interesting to see those old teams back together again, since even with high school reunions, only the graduating classes reconvene. Here, freshmen and JV members can take part.

I don’t know if there would be any interest in such an event, but if you have any ideas or are a member of one of those clubs and would be interested in taking part, shoot me an email at sports@jessaminejournal.com. We’ll run it up the flag pole and see it flies.

Photos from the Little League All-Stars hosted in Nicholasville.

Photos from the Blue Grass State Games Disc Golf tournament

Outdoors page is out!

The first of our new Outdoors pages is out the door. We got a great reaction with plenty of photos. Keep them coming!

Unfortunately, we got more than we could handle, really. I have about a handful that I wasn’t able to fit on the page. Don’t worry, you don’t have to re-send them. I have them here and will use them next month. They are actual copies, though, so if you sent a photo via e-mail, shoot me another and make sure I got it.

Thanks again for all your photos! I look forward to next month’s.

Outdoor Nut? Prove it!

I’m sure a number of you have photos of your conquests in the wild. Maybe a large buck or a massive bass. Whichever is your outdoor activity of choice, the Journal wants your proof.

Email (higher resolution for best results) or bring in your photos and they’ll be included as part of our new Outdoor Page. Be sure to include all the information you can, such as the size of the catch, who did the deed, where it was shot/caught/bagged and anything else you can think of.

The new page will highlight your photos once a month, beginning July 23. The page will also include information from the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife agency.

I’ll need those photos before noon on the Monday the week the page is supposed to run. The Outdoor page is set to be a part of the Journal the third paper of each month.

Email your photos to sports@jessaminejournal.com or bring them to 507 North Main Street.

Ken Cox named new District A.D.

Superintendent of Jessamine County Schools, Lu Young, announced the hiring of Ken Cox as the new Jessamine County District Athletic Director.

Cox is retired from the Fayette County Public School system. There he was Director of High Schools, Principal of Tates Creek High School, an assistant principal, coach and teacher. He also has experience officiating college sports.

He begins work July 15.

In the announcement, Young said, “We feel very fortunate to have someone of Ken’s caliber and experience in the area of public school athletics and leadership.”

How to buy photos!

In case you haven’t heard, we’re going to be selling our photos differently than we have in the past.

If you see one of my photos and want a copy, these online albums are your best shot for getting it. Now, these albums will have more than simply the photos I used on the sports page or uploaded online. It will include, really, any decent photo I take (and I’m sure at least some of you are wondering why the albums aren’t empty, and to that I will reply, ‘Touché.’).

As an example, here are the best photos from my day at the championship Saturday Little League and Girls’ Softball fields. Click here!

From there, I’m sure the site is pretty simple to use. If you have any questions or problems, just drop me a line.

West vacancies and East’s pink shirts

West Jessamine hopes to have a new volleyball coach in place this week. If they do announce that this week, they will probably be announcing a new girls’ hoops coach in the following weeks.

In the night cap Saturday, the East Jessamine baseball team wore pink shirts. An odd alternate jersey choice to be sure, but they weren’t making a fashion statement.

The Jaguars wore the shirts in tribute of Sandy Steward, who is battling breast cancer. The shirts are being sold with the proceeds being donated to Breast Cancer Awareness in Sandy’s name. Sandy’s son, Travis (T-Bone), is a member of the baseball team.

The shirts are being sold at $15. You can sign up in Linda Burton’s office at East Jessamine Middle School. The order will be placed Thursday.

Prior to tomorrow’s game against West at East, the boys will be wearing their pink shirts to school.

Travis ‘T-Bone’ Steward and his mother, Sandy.

Remembering Ryan Robinson

John Price has asked me to pass along a request.

The Jessamine Youth Soccer Association has created a comment section on its site for who remember Ryan to post memories and thoughts. Those will be collected and sent to the family after a couple weeks.

If you visit jessamineyouthsoccer.com, one of the graphics that cycle will also link you to the page.

You will be asked to register before signing, but it will be for administration purposes only and not to collect personal information.

All-Time East vs. West – Boys Basketball

Not long ago I received an email asking if I had the all-time, head-to-head records between the Jaguars and Colts. I didn’t, but I did some quick research and cobbled them together.

After the schools split, the seniors stayed at West, leaving East with only juniors and younger players.

97-98
- West, 66-60
- West, 89-56

Still, East looked pretty competitive in that first game. West continued to be the stronger team even the next season.

98-99
- West, 56-46
- West, 68-50
- West, 56-43 (District Tourney)

Not only did the Colts have it over their younger brothers through the first five games, it took the Jaguars eight games to finally win the crosstown rivalry.

99-00
- West, 87, 85
- West, 75-65
- West, 93-81, (District Tourney)

But eight games and three years was long enough for East. And they put together a run of their own.

00-01
- East, 83-67
- East, 66-64
- East, 76-74 (District Tourney)

Those last two games must have been electrifying, truly. But the Jaguars carried that momentum over and won the next two games by a combined three points.

01-02
- East, 82-80
- East, 71-70

Hard to call this the height of the rivalry, though. Eight straight for West then five straight for East.

02-03
- West, 72-59
- West, 85-66

West gets back on top and doubles their overall lead over East. And then runs out another streak.

03-04
- West, 67-58
- West, 65-60

04-05
- West, 57-44
- West, 70-62 – OT

05-06
- East, 54-46
- East, 2-0 (forfeit, original score – West, 75-67)
- West, 62-57 (District Tourney)

From what I can glean, the forfeit came from a player being ineligible but still playing.

06-07
- East, 42-28
- West, 51-50
- West, 53-37 (District Tourney)

Look at those low scores. They combined for 70, 100, and 90. To put that in perspective, remember that this season the Colts reached 100 points twice. The Jaguars average nearly 70 points a game.

07-08
- West, 61-53
- East, 50-39
- West, 68-55 (District Tourney)

This is why I think we’re coming on to the height of the rivalry. The possible matchup in the district tournament is nearly always looking to be the rubber match.

08-09
- East, 68-60
- West, 60-42

So, if this year’s district championship comes down to the Jessamine schools, it will happen again.

Thus far, the two teams have faced one another 30 times. West holds a 20-10 advantage overall. In the district tournament, they’ve faced six times. West has won five of those. The two teams have never faced one another in the region tournament. Though, if they both take care of business in the first round of the district tournament this year, we could very well see a unprecedented fourth matchup.