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West Jessamine senior Chase Fain went up against a swarm of Burgin defenders and scored during the third quarter of Friday night's game. Fain finished with a team-high 23 points and nine rebounds. (Photo by Jonathan Stark/jstark@jessaminejournal.com / December 21, 2012) |
As if West Jessamine’s 25-point win over Mercer County earlier this month wasn’t enough, the Colts sent another shock wave through the district with a 94-43 win over Burgin on Friday night.
“We played hard and did what I expected us to do,” West Jessamine coach Damon Kelley said. “I always preach to my kids that you have to play hard every night regardless of who your opponent is. That’s how you show respect for the game and for your opposition, and our kids did that tonight.”
Chase Fain led West with 23 points in 21 minutes on the floor. Will Henderson and Daulton Peters each added 14 of their own.
The 51-point win was by far West’s largest margin of victory this season and activated a new rule in Kentucky high-school basketball. With 3:59 remaining in the third quarter, Daulton Peters hit a three-pointer to give West a 71-34 lead. The 37-point lead activated the running clock. For the next 12 minutes, the clock only stopped for timeouts and free throws.
West pulled its starters on the next dead ball.
At the end of the first quarter, it didn’t look like the game would end up being so one-sided. Burgin had a brief 2-0 lead but still hung around and weas down just 13-10 before Henderson hit a basket-and-one with 1.5 seconds remaining in the first quarter to give the Colts a 16-10 advantage.
The second quarter was when West exerted itself, outscoring Burgin 38-18.
West’s passing was a big reason for the second-quarter rally. After three assists in the first quarter, the Colts moved the ball around to find open shots in the second quarter, which led to nine assists on 12 of its baskets.
“(Passing) is something we’ve really been working on in practice,” Kelley said. “I don’t think we have anybody who is selfish, but I just didn’t think we were moving the ball that well. We did a better job of that tonight.”
After the Bulldogs trimmed the lead to 16-13, West rattled off eight straight points to pull away by 11.
The Colts’ full-court pressure produced several steals during the period and they turned eight Burgin turnovers into 11 points.
One nice stretch midway through the quarter began with Fain getting a steal and converting at the other end for two points. Henderson then forced another turnover on Burgin’s next possession and following a Fain miss, Henderson put the ball back up for a basket and drew a the foul. The sequence gave West a 34-17 lead.
Fain had 17 points in the first half on 7-for-11 shooting. All of Henderson’s points came in the first 16 minutes, of which he played every minute.
West went into the locker room up 54-28.
Peters broke out in the third quarter, scoring nine points in the first four minutes. Going to its bench so early in the night, West ended up with 30 points from reserves — Burgin had just one bench point.
Rashawn Jackson came on and scored eight, Seth Hampton and Justin Sanders each added five.
The Colts forced Burgin into 26 turnovers; Robby Irgang and Henderson each had six steals.
Fain led the way in rebounds with nine; Henderson had five assists; and Irgang blocked two shots.
