By Mitch Howard
MCKEE—You know you’re in a ball game when law enforcement starts to surround the court midway through the fourth quarter.
It was only a precaution, as North Laurel and Jackson County settled matters on the court with no incidents. Although tension did get to the level at times it could bring to mind a scene from an old western movie where the sheriff shoots in the air to calm everyone down. In the end, North Laurel emerged with a 58-51 win.
“Give coach (Tim) Truett and their kids a lot of credit,” North Laurel coach Jim Conway said. “They really battled. They’ve got one senior on their team. We’re a senior dominated team. Most of the time out on the floor I had five seniors out there.”
That experience may have been a deciding factor as North Laurel advanced to the semifinals. Jackson County had four possessions in the final three minutes that could have allowed them to tie the game. Those possessions ended with two misses and two turnovers.
Although a chance to advance in the 49th District Tournament stood as the main prize for winning this game, both teams could add to the agenda.
North Laurel had avenging an early loss to Jackson County on its mind. Jackson County wanted to prove the December win was not a fluke. Both teams could claim some victory on those matters.
None of that matters as much as just moving on.
“Right now we’re sitting five games away from Rupp Arena, and that’s what I told them,” Conway said.
When Dustin Baker’s layup to open the fourth quarter gave North Laurel its biggest lead, 47-34, the ticket to the semifinals appeared to be punched. North Laurel watched the lead evaporate due partially to the hot-shooting of eighth grader Jordan Fox.
“In a stage like this for an eighth-grader to step up and go 4-of-7 from threes, when you’ve got him as a driver only,” Conway said. “In the scouting report we said don’t go out past the three-point line on him. Make him shoot the ball and by gosh he did.”
Fox sandwiched a pair of three-pointers around a three-pointer from Adam Duncan. Three North Laurel possessions ended with a missed shot, a turnover, and an offensive foul. Suddenly the 13-point lead was down to two with 4 minutes to play.
“We’ve got to understand. We didn’t step on their throat when we had them down 13 to try and put that thing away,” Conway said.
Everything suddenly escalated. The fans grew louder. Fouls were harder.
North Laurel would get the points they needed to stay ahead. Cody Likins scored on a putback. Then, Adrian Wardrup got open with a spin move inside. That gave the Jaguars enough cushion to seal the win from the foul line.
“We only got there 16 times, but we were 80 percent from the free throw line,” Conway said. “That won the game.”
North Laurel may have been able to avoid the gut-wrenching finish if they had opened breathing room early. Looking motivated from the outset, North Laurel did a lot better in the first quarter. Four three-pointers in the opening period allowed the Jaguars to lead the entire quarter. But they made only 1-of-8 shots inside the arc, including misses on their first five shots.
The North Laurel lead stood at 22-16 when the shots stopped dropping altogether. A 12-0 Jackson County run allowed the Generals to take a 28-22 lead.
“The big thing with our kids, they battled. Especially when they took the lead on us,” Conway said.
A pair of Brody Creech free throws and a buzzer-beater by Wardrup allowed the Jaguars to pull within two at halftime. North Laurel would not regain the lead until midway through the third quarter. Likins was fouled on a three-pointer, resulting in a four-point play to give the Jaguars a 34-32 lead.
North Laurel made 9-of-18 three-pointers. Good, but not as good as Jackson County’s 8-of-14.
“We shot good, but they blistered it,” Conway said.
Jackson County tied the game, 34-34, before North Laurel closed the quarter with a 11-0 run that included three-pointers from each baseline by Wardrup. Likins added another three-pointer during the run.
One thing that Conway thought his team needed to improve on to hold leads, is shot selection.
“I think they get excited,” Conway said. “We come down here like our tails are on fire. I told our guys calm down, but it’s hard when you’ve been battling.”
Monday’s game almost guaranteed a spot in the 13th Region Tournament to the victor. Redbird (3-13) doesn’t appear to be much of an obstacle in the semifinals.
“They’ve struggled, so hopefully we can come in and get that one over with early, but we can’t overlook anybody at this point,” Conway said. “You are going to get everybody’s best effort.”
The Jaguars planned a light practice Tuesday with some time to talk about what Redbird will try to do.
“Hopefully, we’ll get past Wednesday and it will give us a chance to play Clay County in the finals. We will have our hands full there,” Conway said.
Mitch Howard can be reached at mhoward@sentinel-echo.com.
49th District Tournament
at Jackson County
North Laurel 58, Jackson County 51
N. Laurel 13 15 6 17—58
Jackson Co. 17 9 19 13—51
NORTH LAUREL (58)—Cheek 13, Wardrup 14, Shears 12, Creech 3, Likins 9, Spencer 2, Baker 5.
JACKSON COUNTY (51)—Riley 2, Duncan 12, Jordan Fox 17, Justin Fox 11, White 2, Nicholson 7.
