Rapid Reaction: West Jessamine 66, Great Crossing 46

<p>Tuesday night I made the 8 minute drive from my house to catch the first game in Great Crossing history. The game was back and forth for a while before the Warhawks went a 7 minute stretch without scoring and West Jessamine wound up winning the game 66-46. Here are 5 things I learned on Tuesday night in Georgetown.</p> <p><strong>Great Crossing had an awful shooting night.</strong> The starting lineup combined to go 14/56 for a whopping 25%. Senior wings <strong>Michael McKenzie </strong>(4/19) and <strong>KJ Tucker </strong>(9/19) are counted on to do the bulk of the scoring as they took 38 of the teams 67 shots for the game. Point guard <strong>Neil Baker</strong> was 0/12 for the game and West Jess didn't even bother to guard him the last 4 or 5 shots. <strong>Jaylen Barber</strong> barely got any post touches and only 2 shot attempts for the night. Basically an all systems failure for Great Crossing on opening night. But there's nowhere to go but up from here.</p> <p><strong>Dee Stepp doesn't get enough respect as a top player in the 12th. </strong>Stepp started his season with a 20 point, 14 rebound, 4 assist performance and although he only went 6/18 from the field, he was 8/11 from the free throw line and was able to get into the paint whenever he wanted. Stepp is able to play multiple positions on offense and guarded every position on the defensive end. Time to start mentioning Stepp among the best players in the 12th region.</p> <p><strong>West Jessamine's role players were excellent. </strong>The real difference in the game was the distribution of shots for West. <strong>Daniel Waters, Nate Breeden and Clayton Winter</strong> all scored in double figures while <strong>Gavin Salva </strong>played some good stretches that may not be reflected in his 4 point performance.. The ball moved really well for West and their sets were effective in getting multiple open shots. 15/19 from the free throw line as a team made a big difference as well.</p> <p><strong>Great Crossing found some success with their half court trap. </strong>If I were Coach Page, I would continue to look at the half court run and jump as it caused the pace of the game to speed up. It didn't cause a bunch of turnovers but the trapping defense did lead to some bad shots from West and transition opportunities for the Warhawks. The more transition, the better with the length and athleticism that this group has.</p>