LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — SOMERSET—Queen’s rock anthem “Another One Bites the Dust” is often played at games to rally fans. North Laurel could play the song to represent the players missing time due to injuries.

For Thursday against Southwestern, Kayla Bruner and Makayla Sexton returned to the lineup. Megan Bryant took a seat on the bench next to Ashley Woolum. Bryant is the latest ankle injury with Woolum still recovering from a hamstring strain.

Southwestern (15-5) was coming off a loss to Lincoln County. The Lady Warriors played like they did not want another loss in rolling to a 70-43 win.

“A lot of people would look at us and say you have two to three starters out almost every other game. They use that as a crutch. We can’t use it,” North Laurel coach Eddie Mahan said. “We have to keep trying to get better. This is an opportunity for us to make our team stronger.”

Mahan said the impact of the injuries has been more than physical.

“The injuries are not what’s holding us back. It’s the lack of confidence because of the injuries,” he said.

The Lady Jaguars looked uncertain with the ball as they opened the game with four turnovers in their first five possessions. They would turn the ball over 19 times in the first half. It is an outcome that can be expected with so many players thrust into new roles. That does not mean it has to be accepted.

“If they would come out and play like they did by the middle of the second quarter and into the third, then we would be in the ball game,” Mahan said.

The Lady Warriors jumped ahead 16-2 with the help of a sloppy start by North Laurel. The Lady Jaguars would score the last five points of the first quarter to pull within nine. But going almost four minutes without a goal to start the second quarter had the Lady Jaguars trailing by 18 points. Jessica Boggs ended the dry spell with a three-pointer from the baseline.

“Jessica Boggs has shot the ball very well for us, which has opened up the floor,” Mahan said. “If we can get everybody back and have her shooting the ball as well as she has then we are going to be hard to match up with.”

Boggs is not the only player that Mahan has seen boost their game as the injury toll mounts. Some only show what they are capable of in spurts.

“It’s sporadic. At the very beginning, I don’t know how confident we came into the ball game. You can‘t turn it on after you are down 10 or 12 points,” Mahan said. “It’s too late against a good team. Especially an offensively efficient team like (Southwestern.),” Mahan said.

The Lady Jaguars found confidence or energy in the third quarter when they whittled a 23-point lead to 16 in just over one minute. But the Lady Warriors weapons were just too strong. Adison Corder led Southwestern with 22 points, which pushed her over the 1,000-point mark for her career. Her milestone points came on a pair of free throws to start the fourth quarter and also start a 15-2 Southwestern spurt.

North Laurel played Wayne County Friday. Tonight they get a rematch with South Laurel. The earlier meeting between the rivals was a 58-55 overtime win for the Lady Cardinals at North Laurel.

“Anytime you play South-North you usually get the team’s best effort. If both teams played like that against everybody else, we would have two pretty good teams right now,” Mahan said.



Southwestern 70, North Laurel 43

North Laurel      7  8 18 10—43

Southwestern    16 17 19 18—70

NORTH LAUREL (43)—Ellington 5, Boggs 3, Proffitt 9, Wyatt 4, Chestnut 5, Oliver 1, Carpenter 2, Sexton 5, Bruner 9.

SOUTHWESTERN (70)—Fitzgerald 13, Corder 22, Combs 17, Molden 8, Grant 2, Venable 1, Latham 7.

mhoward@sentinel-echo.com