LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — NICHOLASVILLE—North Laurel pestered East Jessamine for four quarters before falling to the 12th Region’s top team, 78-67. It was the 11th straight win for East Jessamine, but not an easy one despite the double-figure spread.

“They’ve got a really good team. They pressed us and made us play really quick,” North Laurel coach Brad Sizemore said. “We turned the ball over a lot obviously, but we did some good things.”

East Jessamine led by double figures in each quarter, but also found themselves fighting to hold that lead each time. The difference would be when North Laurel did not turn the ball over and converted on the shots it should. Free throws would be a problem all night with 11-of-20 shooting from the line.

“I thought we played extremely hard and handled the ball a little better in spurts. We just turned the ball over too early in the first half and dug ourselves a hole,” Sizemore said.

East Jessamine almost ran away with the game in the first quarter. North Laurel’s five first quarter turnovers and several missed shots under the goal allowed East Jessamine to lead 14-4.

North Laurel pulled within 16-14 with much of the 10-2 run coming on blurring drives by Marcus Carson. The Jaguars were a missed layup away from tying the game.

“To their credit, they’ve got a really nice team. Every time we would cut the lead, they would come down and hit a big shot,” Sizemore said.

Another burst by East Jessamine threatened to put North Laurel on the mat. The lead was 28-18 with much of the points coming in transition after North Laurel misses. Carson picked up his third foul on his second charge midway through the second quarter. East Jessamine’s final point on the spurt came on a free throw resulting from a technical foul on North Laurel. When East Jessamine did not convert on the resulting possession, that single point turned out to be the only harm done by the technical.

With an uncommon lineup featuring several younger players, North Laurel rallied again. It began with Austin Rush scoring off the press. Then a steal by Austin Thompson led to a Chris Miller layup. Two free throws from Miller had North Laurel within four points. After an East Jessamine basket, North Laurel scored the next six points to make it a 6-2 run. A Thompson steal and layup, Shears’ follow shot, and free throws from Thompson tied the score 30-30.

East Jessamine’s quickness allowed them to convert turnovers into points in the final 25 seconds and lead 36-30 at halftime. They added two more field goals to start the second half and reopen a 10-point lead.

“They sped us up and we didn’t play under control. We didn’t get a lot of rhythm for the game,” Sizemore said.

North Laurel would again cut the lead to five points, but the trend continued with East Jessamine pushing the lead back to double figures in the fourth quarter. Six missed free throws in the fourth quarter by North Laurel helped keep the lead safe this time.

“We got a little tired. They’ve got a lot of bodies and a lot of athletes. They wear you down. We didn’t go up to the line and make them. We’re going to have to do that if we’re going to win when it counts,” Sizemore said.

North Laurel has two games remaining in the regular season. The Jaguars will host Pineville on Tuesday and travel to Knox Central Friday before starting district tournament play the following Tuesday against Red Bird.

“Hopefully this is going to get us ready for the tournament. We’re going to go out there and compete. Hopefully we’ll get it going two weeks from now,” Sizemore said.

 

East Jessamine 78, North Laurel 67

North Laurel    10  20 10  27—67

East Jessamine  16  20  17 25—78

 

NORTH LAUREL (67)—Carson 16, Shears 6, Allen 8, Eversole 3, Henson 6, Rush 13, Thompson 13, Miller 2.

EAST JESSAMINE (78)—Boyd 16, Rexroat 14, Hairston 11, Carson 22, Collins 10, Thomas 2, Bradshaw 3.

mhoward@sentinel-echo.com