JWCC’s Jennings earns Region 24 Player of the Year, Taylor and Kracht also honored

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A somber thought crossed Jarvis Jennings’ mind in the locker room Sunday afternoon.

His John Wood Community College basketball career was finished.

“It didn’t really hit me until I had to take my jersey off one last time,” Jennings said. “But that’s life. You take it to the chin and you have to move on from it.”

Jennings’ career and JWCC’s season came to a halt Sunday with an 80-75 loss to Parkland College in the Region 24 championship game at Lincoln Land Community College’s Cass Gym. The Trail Blazers trailed by 23 points at halftime and by as many as 27 points in the second half, but trimmed the deficit to two in the final 30 seconds of regulation.

The Trail Blazers never took the lead, despite the efforts of Jennings, fellow sophomore Ja’Veon Taylor and freshman sharpshooter Brandon Kracht.

Afterward, all three were rewarded for their season-long efforts by being named to the All-Region 24 team, with Jennings being named the Region 24 Player of the Year.

A 6-foot-3 forward from Columbia, Mo., Jennings averaged 19.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. He ranked first in the Mid-West Athletic Conference and the region in both categories, while also shooting 80.4 percent from the free-throw line.

Jennings was named the Region 24 and MWAC Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.

Taylor, a 6-foot-4 guard from Waukegan, Ill., averaged 10.6 points and 5.8 rebounds in being named both all-region and all-conference for a second time. Kracht earned his first all-region honors after averaging 13.8 points while shooting 40.6 percent from 3-point range and 85.5 percent from the free-throw line.