Jessica Washington's 51 points leads Jenks girls past Muskogee
BY MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer
Saturday, January 05, 2013
1/05/13 at 6:17 AM
MUSKOGEE - Jenks senior Jessica Washington had a lot to play for Friday night. She was playing for a fallen teammate.
The North Carolina signee poured in a career-best 51 points as the No. 17 Trojans outgunned No. 9 Muskogee 83-68 in Frontier Conference basketball.
Washington said she was inspired by Jenks forward Emily Dennis, who tore her ACL in the Trojans' third-place game at the Tournament of Champions last weekend.
"I think what was pushing me was that I wanted to play well for her. She's probably my best friend off the court," Washington said. "I told her I was going to play every game for the rest of the season for her, and I think this was a good start."
Dennis watched with a brace on her knee, and they hugged after the game.
Scoring on a variety of jump shots, drives, layups and 3-pointers, Washington showed why she is rated 14th nationally in the class of 2013 by the Hoopgurlz recruiting rankings.
"I think what makes her so good is that you have to cover her everywhere on the court," head coach Mandy Nightingale said.
Washington went 13-for-25 from the field with seven 3-pointers and was 19-for-26 from the foul line. She also had 12 rebounds, two steals and an assist. She said her previous career-high total was 34 against East Central last year.
She took what appeared to be a nasty fall around the 6:30 mark of the first quarter and came up slowly, favoring her left knee. She had only two points at the time, but when she returned after two minutes on the bench, she came back firing.
She scored the Trojans' final nine points of the first quarter and the first 10 of the second quarter.
Jenks raced to commanding leads in the second half, but had to weather a fourth-quarter push by the Roughers, led by senior Kelsey McClure and freshman Aaliyah Wilson.
Freshman Jensen Prince chipped in 16 points for the Trojans (6-5), who broke a two-game losing streak. McClure and Wilson led the Roughers (5-2) with 22 and 15, respectively.
Jenks 70, Muskogee 52 (boys): Luke Phillips collected 26 points and seven rebounds and John Jones and Steven Parker combined for 24 points and 18 assists as the seventh-ranked Trojan men (5-3) made it a clean sweep.
Playing for the first time since Dec. 21, the Trojans opened a 10-point lead when Logan Prince drained a 3-pointer from the corner just before halftime and led by as many as 21 points in the second half.
"It's good to see us come out with as much energy as we had. You never know what you're going to get when you come back from a long break," coach Clay Martin said.
Anthony King and Tramal Ivy led the Roughers (3-4) with 20 and 18 points respectively.
JENKS 83, MUSKOGEE 68 (girls)
| Jenks |
22 |
24 |
18 |
19 |
- |
83 |
| Muskogee |
10 |
20 |
16 |
22 |
- |
68 |
Jenks: Washington 51, Prince 16, Halsmer 5, Peterson 4, Crase 4, Sears 3.
Muskogee: McClure 22, Aaliyah Wilson 15, Jackson 10, Alexus Wilson 10, Carter 5, Ford 4, Gaulden 2.
JENKS 70, MUSKOGEE 52
| Jenks |
20 |
16 |
15 |
19 |
- |
70 |
| Muskogee |
15 |
11 |
14 |
12 |
- |
52 |
Jenks: Phillips 26, Parker 13, Jones 10, Prince 8, Clark 6, Houston 3, Fling 2, Gilton 2.
Muskogee: King 20, Ivy 18, Beasley 6, Cherry 5, Ashley 3.
Original Print Headline: Jenks' Washington leads with 51 points
