MCKEE—They were 9.9 seconds from doing something that hadn’t been done in a long time.

The last time the North Laurel girls won a district title, most of the current players had not been born. It was 1994, and current assistant Rex Fredricks was the head coach. Roy Bowling was retired from coaching.

Sixteen years is a long time. Sometimes, 9.9 seconds seems like a long time.

“We had a miscommunication on our defense,” North Laurel coach Roy Bowling said. “We wanted one person to pressure the ball. They all pressured the ball. They ran off and left that kid wide open.”

That “kid” was a sophomore reserve player for Clay County. Victoria Jackson found herself wide open under the goal. As Jackson’s shot went through the net, the horn sounded on a 50-49 Clay County win.

“We knew we were going to win this ball game. I felt good about it. (The players) felt good about it,” Bowling said.

As district runner-up, North Laurel awaits Saturday’s draw to see who they will face in the 13th Region Tournament. All they know is it will be a district champion, and it won’t be Clay County.

Bowling said he doesn’t expect the tough loss to have an effect next week.

“We’ll come back out tomorrow and we get them back up for the region,” Bowling said. “Now we have put ourselves in a position where we’re going to have to play a little bit better and meet them again in the finals.”

It was a confident North Laurel team that controlled much of the first half. The confidence did not seem to waiver when Clay County took the lead in the fourth quarter. But while North Laurel hit big shot after big shot, the Lady Tigers responded.

Clay County led 41-38 with 1:23 to play. Kelsie Smith had not scored and attempted only three shot to that point. She did not hesitate when left open outside. Her three-pointer tied the score with 59 seconds.

“We didn’t do a very good job of switching on their screens late in the game,” Clay County coach James Burchell said. “We left them wide open and they nailed some big shots.”

It looked like the Lady Jaguars might put the game away there when Rachel Seidel came up with a steal. As Seidel drove for a potential go-ahead layup, a Clay County player reached in to tie her up. The possession went to Clay County with 19.6 seconds. Clay County struggled to get a shot off in that time. Kayla Smith’s foul line jumper drifted right as the fourth quarter ended.

Momentum swung with every shot in overtime. Clay County fired first. The defense backed off Kayla Smith and she buried a three-pointer. Smith led Clay County with 13 points, including three three-pointers.

“We played pretty good defense most of the game. That No. 23 (Smith) shot some in from downtown,” Bowling said.

Kelsie Smith answered with a three-pointer for North Laurel to tie the score again. After an inside basket by Phillips gave Clay County the lead, North Laurel appeared to finally grab some momentum.

Tamara Crawford missed two three-pointers. Both times Kelsie Smith was there for the rebound. On a third try, Crawford made the go-ahead basket. Bowling said he had told her to keep shooting.

With 36.3 seconds, a loose ball under the Clay County goal led to a scramble. The result was a critical fifth foul on Madden and free throws for Clay County’s Jackson. The foul drew strong response from the North Laurel fans and coach.

Without Madden, the Lady Jaguars were without their leading rebounder, a key post defender, and the player that led them in scoring all three tournament games.

“Cheyenne outplayed them all under there tonight. In fact, we didn’t get it to her enough,” Bowling said.

Jackson missed the free throw. Then Katie Hartney, who checked into the game for the first time when Madden fouled out, missed a free throw for North Laurel. Without Madden inside, Clay County got three shots on their next possession before Phillips was fouled. She made both free throws for a 48-47 lead with 23.8 seconds.

Hartney found an open look on the baseline, but the shot bounced over to a waiting Ashley Woolum.

Woolum was fouled on the shot and made both free throws for a 49-48 lead with 9.9 seconds.

“We were just looking for someone to penetrate and kick. We were looking for Tamara or Kelsie since Cheyenne was out,” Bowling said. “Katie had a good shot there and Katie is normally a good shooter, but she hadn’t been in.”

It looked like the North Laurel defense had the stop before Jackson drifted open on the weak side. The Lady Jaguars didn’t even have time to inbounds the ball.

The game didn’t always appear destined for overtime. North Laurel led by five points at halftime. They had limited Clay County’s top two scorers to a combined five points. Clay County seemed to have no answer for Madden.

“What really surprised me was how well they were able to post our kids inside. They did an excellent job getting the ball inside on us. They hurt us inside,” Burchell said.

North Laurel led 9-4 with 4:38 in the first quarter, but managed only two free throws from there.

“Really, if we had played more like we are capable, we would have had a bigger lead,” Bowling said.

The problem wasn’t defense, which practically owned the first quarter. Of Clay County’s nine first quarter points, six came on offensive rebounds and one on a fortunate roll on a loose ball.

“We didn’t do a very good job in the first half. In the second half, we stepped up and made some shots,” Burchell said.

The five-point halftime lead also should have been more, but the Lady Jaguars made just 1-of-4 free throws in the second quarter and 5-of-10 in the half. Still North Laurel had momentum and a five-point lead at halftime. A halftime they were not ready to see.

“We were in control at halftime,” Bowling said.

Mitch Howard can be reached at mhoward@sentinel-echo.com.



49th District Finals

at Jackson County

Clay County 50, North Laurel 49

North Laurel 11 14 9 7 8—49

Clay County 9 11 12 9 9—50

NORTH LAUREL (49)—Crawford 11, Smith 6, Seidel 6, Woolum 8, Madden 17, Proffitt 1.

CLAY COUNTY (50)—Mitchell 4, Jackson 8, Smith 6, Phillips 9, Smith 13, Chestnut 3, Jackson 5.