LEXINGTON — North Laurel’s remarkable journey continued in the UK HealthCare KHSAA Boys’ Sweet 16, winning a thriller over Breathitt County with a nail-biting 54-53 victory in Thursday’s first-round action.
“Just extremely excited,” North Laurel coach Nate Valentine said. “This is the first state tournament win in school history — that’s 33 years, and these guys were the guys to do it, and no one will be able to take it away from them.
“These guys just kept fighting, and that’s what they’ve done all year,” he added. “In an interview last week, someone said, ‘North Laurel just won’t die.’ It took two overtime’s to get here and to score and get a stop in the final 10 seconds today. I’d go to war with these guys any day. They keep fighting. Obviously, a 17-day layoff, you never know how you’re going to respond to that. It’s not always pretty but we just keep grinding it out and finding a way.”
Junior Reece Davidson delivered another clutch performance, scoring 36 points and grabbing nine rebounds, leading the Jaguars (23-10) to their first-ever state tournament win in the history of the boys’ basketball program.
Davidson showcased his skills throughout the game, proving why he is regarded as one of the top players in the state.
With just 4.6 seconds left and his team trailing 53-52, he calmly sank two free throws to put North Laurel ahead 54-53. He then intercepted the inbound pass, securing the victory for the Jaguars.
“From the tip, I just felt, I was going to do whatever it takes to win,” Davidson said. “If I had an open shot, I took it. Thankfully, my teammates had confidence in me, and kept getting me the ball.”
Davidson finished the game hitting 13-of-24 shot attempts while knocking down 4-of-7 attempts from the free-throw line. Cooper Elza followed with nine points on 2-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc while totaling three rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. Jordan Rawlings added four points while Kole Jervis scored three points and RJ Noble finished with two points.
North Laurel finished the game hitting 20-of-43 shot attempts, including a 6-of-14 effort from 3-point range. The Jaguars were 8-of-14 from the free-throw line while getting out-rebounded, 27-19. They forced 12 turnovers and only turned the ball over twice.
North Laurel limited the Bobcats to 20-of-39 shooting from the floor and 6-of-13 from 3-point range. Breathitt County turned the ball over 12 times.
Austin Sperry led the Bobcats with 22 points and five rebounds while Braxton Terry scored 14 points and finished with 11 rebounds.
Both teams came out firing in the first quarter with Austin Sperry knocking down 3-of-4 shot attempts while scoring seven points for Breathitt County. He picked up his second foul midway through the quarter but continued to play.
Davidson had the hot hand for North Laurel, scoring 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor while grabbing four rebounds.
The Jaguars trailed 8-4 before going on an 8-4 run to send the game into a 12-all tie entering the second quarter.
North Laurel continued to be aggressive in the second quarter. Davidson added 10 more points while Elza added six points to give the Jaguars a 30-24 advantage at halftime.
Davidson scored 20 points in the first half while pulling down six rebounds and dishing out two assists. Elza had six points.
North Laurel shot 12-of-25 shot attempts from the floor while hitting 3-of-8 from 3-points range and 3-of-6 from the free-throw line. The Jaguars were outrebounded, 16-12, but didn’t have a turnover.
The Jaguars limited the Bobcats to 9-of-21 shooting from the floor, including a 2-of-6 effort from 3-point territory.
Sperry led Breathitt County with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting while grabbing four rebounds.
The Bobcats came out red-hot to open the second half, using a 7-0 run to take 31-30 lead with 5:30 remaining in the third quarter.
A basket by Noble gave the Jaguars a short-lived 32-31 edge while Joseph Honeycutt knocked down a 3-pointer to give Breathitt County a 34-32 edge.
A basket by Davidson and a 3-pointer by Elza gave North Laurel a 37-34 lead with 3:51 left in the third quarter. Davidson followed with a steal and a dunk, increasing the Jaguars’ lead to 39-34.
Sperry followed with an old-fashioned 3-point play to cut the Bobcats’ deficit to 39-37 at the 2:36 mark. Breathitt County recorded a steal on the following possession and Terry converted with a basket to tie the game at 39 apiece with 2:15 left.
Austin Sperry followed with a 3-pointer while Davidson hit a free throw, as the Bobcats took a 42-40 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Breathitt County shot 7-of-11 from the floor in the third quarter while the Jaguars were 4-of-13.
Both teams traded baskets during the early part of the fourth quarter, but Davidson’s 3-pointer with 5:24 left in regulation gave North Laurel a 47-44 lead.
The Bobcats answered with a 4-0 run to take a 48-47 edge but a long range 3-pointer by Davidson out the Jaguars ahead 50-48 edge with 3:43 remaining in regulation.
Breathitt County’s Terry tied the game at 50 apiece inside the three minute mark.
Jervis put North Laurel back ahead at 51-50 with 2:46 left but a 3-pointer by Sperry gave the Bobcats a 53-51 lead with 2:13 left.
After a miss, the Jaguars forced a turnover, which led to Davidson getting fouled with 28.3 seconds remaining. He hit the first shot but missed the second to make the score 53-52.
North Laurel forced a turnover with 11.7 seconds remaining and called a timeout to set up a play for Davidson, who was fouled on a shot attempt by Sperry, who fouled out on the play with 4.6 remaining.
Davidson knocked down both shots to give the Jaguars a 54-53 lead. After a time out by Breathitt County, Davidson steals in the inbound pass, wrapping up the win for North Laurel.
