LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — Maybe it was the emotion of Senior Night. Or maybe it was the return of Ashley Woolum to the line-up. Whatever the reason, after one half of Friday night’s game against Whitley County, the North Laurel Lady Jaguars held a nine-point lead, 39-30.

Then five turnovers in the first four minutes (including three straight) of the third quarter led to 16 Lady Colonel points for a 46-44 lead. From there, Whitley County slowly took control and came away with a 75-58 win.

“When you have three straight turnovers you are going to go down to a good team,” North Laurel coach Eddie Mahan said. “I said it the first time we played them, and I said it after the Clay County game. I think Whitley County is the most talented team in the region. The difference between them and Clay is Clay’s experience.”

“I can’t say we weren’t really ready to play, but it’s been like this the past two games,” Whitley County coach Larry Anderson said. “Teams are going at us so hard that we have had trouble adjusting and I haven’t made the right adjustments. You could say it’s a combination of players and coach.”

Throughout the first half, North Laurel (6-21) looked primed to pull off the upset, especially in the first quarter, where the Lady Jaguars led after one, 22-13. North was able to get Whitley’s Kandace Craig in foul trouble, as she picked up her third foul with 17.3 left in the first quarter.

But the Lady Jaguars weren’t able to take full advantage of Whitley’s big girl being forced to sit, as Woolum, who scored the final six points of the first quarter for North, also found herself in foul trouble and a spot on the Lady Jaguar bench. She returned to the floor with 4:10 left in the half when a three by Maria Johnson cut the North lead to five, 31-26.

After a Woolum jumper made it 33-26, she picked up her third foul and returned to the bench. Samantha Proffitt picked up the scoring for North with six points over the final 1:31 to give her team a 39-30 lead at the half.

“Ashley is still not 100 percent,” Mahan said. “It was her first game back, and obviously she gave us a lift. She makes a difference on this team.”

Mahan told his team at the half that they needed to come out aggressive and communicate better. “We said they (Whitley) would come out on a run,” Mahan said.

They did just that, but the Lady Jaguars were still able to stay within striking distance, trailing 48-47 with 2:52 left in the third. A 6-2 run to end the third gave Whitley County (18-6) a 54-49 lead.

After keeping Brandi Smith relatively quiet in the first half (she had only 11 points), the Lady Jaguars lost her in the second, as she scored 20 to finish with 31 for the game.

“Brandi makes people around her better,” Anderson said. “She’s a good team player.”

After missing their first shot of the fourth quarter, the Lady Colonels hit their next seven to push the lead to 69-55 with 3:37 left in the game. From there, Whitley County rolled, 75-58.

After shooting 40 percent in the first half (12-of-30), the Lady Jaguars hit 7-of-20 in the second half. For the game, they finished 19-of-50 for 38 percent. Meanwhile, Whitley County hit 26-of-60 for 43.3 percent, including 14-of-26 in the second half.

“We were able to stop the dribble penetration in the second half,” Anderson said. North Laurel managed just 19 second half points.

Proffitt led North Laurel with 19, while Woolum and Kayla Bruner both chipped in with 11 each. Johnson had 15 for Whitley and Bethany Powers chipped in with 13.

“We can learn from this game,” Mahan said. “We’ve got to get experience winning games, what to do at the end of quarters and halves. That’s what makes a good team.”

The Lady Jaguars were at Harlan County Saturday and will travel to Middlesboro Tuesday.



Whitley County 75, North Laurel 58

Whitley County     13  17  24  21—75

North Laurel        22  17  10    9—58

WHITLEY COUNTY (75)—Powers 13, Smith 31, Craig 5, Johnson 15, Anderson 8, Sab. Sizemore 1, Gray 2.

NORTH LAUREL (58)—Woolum 11, Boggs 6, Proffitt 19, Ellington 7, Bruner 11, Prichard 2, Gay 2.

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