Southwestern dominates West Jessamine, 79-50

Local Sports

Related Photos

Southwestern High School senior Justin Epperson puts up a jump shot against West Jessamine’s DeShawn Eubanks in the Warriors’ 79-50 win over the Colts on Tuesday at the Wigwam. Southwestern upped their 12th Region record to 8-1 and their season record to 16-6. Steve Cornelius Photo

January 25, 2012

By MICHAEL CHILDERS, CJ Correspondent Commonwealth Journal The Commonwealth Journal Wed Jan 25, 2012, 05:17 PM EST

Somerset — After a tough loss to Jeffersontown over the weekend, the Southwestern Warriors got back on the right track on Tuesday evening against West Jessamine.

Steve Wright and company came out on all cylinders versus 12th Region opponent West Jessamine on Tuesday night at The Wigwam.

Thanks to a multiple runs over the course of the first half, the Warriors were able to pull way from the visiting Colts to pick-up a 79-50 victory, allowing the ‘Blue and Orange’ to move to 16-6 on the season.

“We played pretty consistently tonight,” stated Wright, who is in his first season as the Southwestern hoops coach. “Our defense was solid. We were able to do some of the things we’ve been working on in practice in a game, which is encouraging to see. We shot the ball better, too.”

The Warriors ran out to an early 17-8 first quarter lead over West Jessamine thanks to a run of 13 unanswered points. After taking a 4-2 lead with a basket from sophomore Justin Edwards, the Warrior 13-0 run began.

On the run, senior Cody Epperson and junior Justin Schulz each knocked down a pair of 3-pointers on the run. Cody Epperson paced Southwestern with 7 points in the opening period of action.

West Jessamine got off to a good start in the second frame, as they went on a 9-2 run to get within five points at 22-17. That would be as close as Damon Kelley’s bunch would get in this one for the remainder of the night.

This contest went from good to bad for the Colts in the second quarter, as Wright and crew forced the visitors into six turnovers, which spurted a 16-0 run for the ‘Blue and Orange.’

A lay-up from sophomore David Kapinga began the 16-point run with a lay-up with just under three minutes left until the intermission. That would be the one of six baskets that the sophomore point guard had in the quarter. In fact, Kapinga scored 15 of his game-high 22 points in the second period alone.

Kapinga would then hit another lay-up, along with back-to-back treys, putting the homestanding Warriors out front by 16 points at 38-21. After Kapinga’s second trey of the run, the Colts took a timeout to attempt to slow down the streaking Warriors, but it would be to no avail.

Fellow sophomore Justin Edwards took his turn, tallying consecutive lay-ups to end the Warriors’ 16-0 run. The sophomore finished the quarter with eight points. After the dust had settled from big Southwestern run, the Colts trailed by 21 points at 42-21 with 1:42 left in the opening half.

At the break, Southwestern held a 42-25 lead over the Colts.

Senior Daulton Marlow came off the bench in the third period and gave the Warriors a huge spurt, tallying 6 points of his 11 total points in the quarter.

In the third quarter, the Warriors used another run, this time of a 9-0 kind. With 2:29 remaining in the frame, Marlow came up with an ‘and one’ opportunity after Cody Epperson tallied a lay-up of his own. With the old-fashioned 3-point play from Marlow, the Warriors took a 55-33 advantage.

After back-to-back lay-ups from Kapinga and Justin Epperson, Southwestern took a 60-33 lead.

Heading into fourth and final quarter, Southwestern held a 62-36 lead over West Jessamine.

Kapinga led all scorers with 22 points and came up with five rebounds in the game. Edwards wasn’t far behind, coming up with 17 points.

Cody Epperson and Marlow joined Kapinga and Edwards in double figures, as the pair of seniors each scored 11 points.

“I thought Justin Edwards played well,” praised the Warrior head coach. “Daulton Marlow played really well in the second half, he was really active when he came into the game. Cody Epperson shot the ball well tonight. I thought all of guards played well, both offensively and defensively.”

For West Jessamine, DeShawn Eubanks had a game-high 13 points.

Southwestern will look to wrap-up the number seed in the 48th District tomorrow night against Rodney Woods’ Wayne County Cardinals. Wayne County’s only loss in the district came to the Warriors way back on December 9th, when Southwestern destroyed the Cardinals, 82-46, in Wayne County.

Wright wants to see a full house come game time tomorrow evening.

“We want to fill this place up Friday night,” Wright said. “We want it to be just like the Pulaski County game - we want standing room only. I guarantee that the people who come out are going to see a Southwestern team that’s working hard.

Tomorrow night’s district clash between Wayne County and Southwestern will get underway at 7:30 p.m. at The Wigwam.

WJ 8 17 11 14 - 50

SW 17 25 20 17 - 79

WEST JESSAMINE (12-9): Eubanks 13, Peters 8, Jackson 8, Fain 7, Ziemann 4, Irgang 3, Wells 3, Adkins 2, Brooks 2.

SOUTHWESTERN (16-6): Kapinga 22, Edwards 17, Marlow 11, C. Epperson 11, J. Epperson 6, Schulz 4, Isaacs 2, Collier 2, Gaskin 2, Merrick 2.

Text Only

Local Sports

Trevor Herd signs with Union College
During his four years on the Somerset High School soccer team, Trevor Herd scored 50 goals and notched 13 assists. During his junior year, Herd scored 27 goals in 21 matches, which earned him Commonwealth Journal's All-County Player of the Year. Despite being riddled by injuries during his senior campaign, Herd still scored nine goals, had five assists, and was named to both All-District and All-Tournament Teams throughout his career.
And while Herd’s injuries were serious enough to end his future as a soccer player at the next level, the talented Somerset High School senior set his mind on continuing to play and recently signed to play at the next level for Union College.

May 24, 2012 1 Photo
Lady Warriors win 7th straight crown
Since joining the 48th District, the Southwestern Lady Warriors have owned their tournament. In the first six seasons, one with Coach Derrick Harris and five under Jim Woodall, Southwestern had been 12-0 with six straight 48th District crowns—and they outscored their opponents 106-5 in the process.

May 23, 2012 1 Photo
Somerset grabs district crown from Pulaski
Early in the 2012 high school baseball season, the Somerset Briar Jumpers were having their fair share of struggles at the plate.
However, Phil Grundy’s club appears to be hitting its stride at the perfect time of the year.

May 23, 2012 1 Photo
Lady Jumpers win back-to-back district titles
In 2011, the Somerset Lady Jumper softball team — who had won its first regional crown the year before in 2010 — brought home its first ever district title with a win in the finals over Pulaski County.

May 23, 2012 1 Photo
Warriors squeak out 5-4 win over McCreary
Heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, visiting McCreary Central had a slight edge over Southwestern, as they held a 4-3 lead over the homestanding Warriors.
But Alex Eaton’s Warriors would not let that slight edge affect them, as they plated a pair of runs in the bottom half of the frame to grab a 5-4 victory in the opening round of the 48th District Baseball Tournament last night at Warrior Stadium.

May 22, 2012 1 Photo
Impact of a state track meet
For most high school track athletes, the state championship is the grand finale to a to grueling high school track season or the cultivation of a long prep career filled with sweat, pain, nagging injuries and constant sore muscles.

May 19, 2012 1 Photo
An old friend and a new face
On Wednesday afternoon, Somerset High School announced their new basketball head coaches for the upcoming season.

May 16, 2012 1 Photo
A ‘Storm’ is heading to UK
Somerset High School’s WB Jones Auditorium was packed with ‘purple and gold’ clad students on Tuesday afternoon during their annual year-end award cermony.

May 15, 2012 1 Photo
Warriors top Pulaski in Scott McAninch Memorial
Over the past three weeks, not a single baseball team inside the 12th Region had been any hotter than the Southwestern Warriors or the Pulaski County Maroons.

May 14, 2012 1 Photo
Somerset track teams win Region, again
Both the Somerset High School boys and girls track teams claimed regional team titles late Saturday night in the Class A Region 6 Track and Field Championships at Somerset’s Joan Spurlock Track Complex.

May 14, 2012 1 Photo
More Local Sports Headlines

Local Sports

Search Results

Related Photos

Southwestern dominates West Jessamine, 79-50

Site Map