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West Jessamine junior Ashlee Rose tried to work her way around Nicholas County's defensive pressure during the second half of Tuesday¿s game. The Lady Colts were held to 13 second-half points ¿ eight of which were scored by Rose. (Photo by Jonathan Stark/jstark@jessaminejournal.com / December 18, 2012) |
The troubles continue for West Jessamine as the Lady Colts fell at home Tuesday night to Nicholas County 51-29.
Nothing was going West’s way as it had its worst offensive performance of the season and the Lady Jackets scored with ease most of the night.
Of West’s 29 points, nine of them came from the free-throw line, but even those shots weren’t always falling as West missed 10 from the stripe.
“We had our confidence hurt when we weren’t making some very easy shots that we normally make, and that carried over into defense,” West Jessamine coach Stephen Greene said. “We got plenty of shots up tonight, but nothing was falling for us.”
Senior Shelby Hawkins opened the game with a three-pointer for the Lady Colts, but that 3-0 lead would be West’s only lead of the night. Nicholas County put together a 10-1 run to pull away 10-4 and ended up outscoring West 16-6 in the first quarter.
West was able to get as close as nine points early in the second quarter thanks to back-to-back baskets by Ashlee Rose and Emma Baxter. Hawkins hit another three and Rose sank another close shot in the final two minutes of the half to make it a 25-16 game at the break.
The third quarter killed any chance West had of making a comeback; Nicholas County outscored the Lady Colts 20-8 to take a 45-24 lead into the fourth quarter.
West managed just five points in the final eight minutes — all of which came from the free-throw line.
Rose had a team-high 14 points; Hawkins scored 11; and Baxter and Hannah Parsons each scored two.
“We had plenty of opportunities; we just need to focus more on the court to capitalize on them,” Greene said.
Over the last three games, West has seen its offensive production drop off the table. Following a 67-52 win over Model, West has posted declining scores of 59, 35 and 29 points.
Greene said he hopes his team’s struggles can be attributed to their increased focus in the classroom — West had finals this week.
The Lady Colts open district play at home Thursday against Burgin (4-4) at 7:30 p.m. The Lady Bulldogs ended West’s season a year ago in the district tournament.
