CORBIN — The Lady Jaguars continued their strong start to the holiday slate on Friday, rolling past Whitley County 68-15 to improve to 2-0 in the Redhounds Christmas Bash.
North Laurel, now 7-1 on the season and winners of seven straight, never let the game get away from them early. The Lady Jaguars jumped out to a 20-4 lead at the end of the first quarter, extended the margin to 29-10 by halftime, and pushed it to 50-12 entering the fourth quarter.
North Laurel dominated the second half, outscoring Whitley County 39-5 after the break. The Lady Jaguars held the Lady Colonels to just one made field goal in the second half and only four field goals total in the game.
Laylee Phillips and Bella Lewis led North Laurel with 13 points apiece. Mariella Claybrook added 10 points, while Paisley Kilburn finished with eight. Maddy Hopkins paced Whitley County with eight points as the Lady Colonels slipped to 4-3 on the season.
Despite the lopsided final score, North Laurel coach Eddie Mahan said his team still has room to grow.
“Any time you win by that margin people assume everything went great, but that really wasn’t the case for us,” he said. “We didn’t come in as focused as we needed to be, and that showed up most in our shooting. We were 45 percent from the field and only 26 percent from three, and a lot of those were shots we normally make when we’re locked in.
“I thought early on we were settling instead of attacking and playing with pace,” Mahan added. “Our spacing wasn’t great, we rushed some possessions, and that led to us taking shots without really forcing the defense to work. We had stretches where the ball didn’t move the way it needs to move for us to be at our best.
“The positive is that our defense and effort still allowed us to control the game,” continued. “We were active, created turnovers, and rebounded well enough to limit second chances, which helped us extend the lead even on a night when the shots weren’t falling. That’s a sign of growth, but it’s also a reminder that we can’t rely on defense alone. This is a good teaching game for us. If we bring better focus, energy, and attention to detail from the start, the offensive execution and shooting numbers will look a lot different. We’re capable of much better, and we’ll use this as motivation moving forward.”
