MANCHESTER — North Laurel used a balanced scoring effort and a strong second half to defeat Clay County 67–55 on Friday night, improving the Jaguars to 16–4 overall and a perfect 5–0 in 49th District play. Clay County fell to 13–7 on the season and 1–2 against district opponents.
That was a good win for us on the road,” North Laurel’s coach Nate Valentine said. “I’m proud of our guys for stepping up when they were called upon. We wanted to put ourselves in a position to get the one seed in the district and we did.
The Jaguars held a slim 11–9 lead at the end of the first quarter with Cooper Elza scoring four points and Jordan Rawlings knocking down a three-pointer.
North Laurel extended its advantage in the second quarter, building a 28–14 lead at halftime. Corey Cunagin scored six points in the period while Elza added five, including a three-pointer. Rawlings and Kaiden Allen also connected from long range as the Jaguars maintained control despite senior Reece Davidson being held scoreless in the first half due to foul trouble.
Clay County made a push in the third quarter, trimming its deficit to 47–35 entering the fourth.
Adon Grubb led the Tigers’ surge with 10 points in the quarter while Aiden Wagers added eight. Davidson found his rhythm for North Laurel, scoring 13 points in the period to keep the Jaguars in front.
North Laurel sealed the win in the final eight minutes, getting eight points from Cunagin while Elza and Allen each added four as the Jaguars pulled away.
Cunagin led North Laurel with 18 points, followed by Elza with 17. Davidson finished with 15 points, and Allen chipped in nine.
Clay County was led by Wagers with 20 points while Grubb added 15 in the loss.
