LONDON — Expectations were high for the North Laurel Jaguars entering the 2025-26 season, but Nate Valentine’s team once again proved it could meet the moment.
North Laurel (28-7) won the 49th District Tournament, and captured its second consecutive 13th Region championship — the program’s fourth regional title in the last five seasons.
The Jaguars also climbed to No. 10 in the final statewide rankings while looking to continue their postseason run as they prepare to face Warren Central during first-round action of Wednesday’s UK Healthcare Boys’ Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena.
North Laurel will attempt to build on last season’s memorable state tournament run and once again make noise on Kentucky’s biggest high school basketball stage.
“Coming off an unexpected Elite 8 run season, I would say external expectations were very high coming into the season,” North Laurel coach Nate Valentine said. “It was unique because heading in the region tournament last year, I don’t think anyone other than ourselves expected to finish in Rupp Arena. The day after the state tournament, I got several calls about playing in events and other coaches were saying we were going to be a preseason top 10 team.
“It’s amazing what winning 4 games does and how it changes everyone’s perspective,” he added. “I’ve always said, our expectations will always be to compete for district and region titles. I just believe if we keep striving for that we will we be in the hunt at the end.”
Despite the lofty expectations, the Jaguars experienced their share of early challenges.
“I knew this season could have its challenges along the way,” Valentine said. “We tried to create a challenging schedule that would help prepare us for where we wanted to go. We lost our opener at Lexington Catholic and I just did’t feel like we were prepared as well as we needed to be. We didn’t get any games this summer with Reece (Davidson) and Jordan (Rawlings) and I knew replacing Kole Jervis would not be easy. Kole hit several clutch shots for us along the way and always found a way to score when we needed a bucket.
“We won the WYMT Classic but I still didn’t feel like we were playing up to our capability,” he added. “We had a really good January and won 14 in a row and then we hit a really tough stretch. It was a humbling week as we lost three in a row but I just felt like it would help our team as we headed into the postseason and it was exactly what we needed. I’m forturnate to have players and parents that can handle adversity and losing a few games in order to get better. I think every team has to go thru some adversity throughout the season. As painful as it was to go through at the time, it really helped us get back to where we want to be.”
That stretch of adversity ultimately helped sharpen the Jaguars as they entered the postseason.
“I really felt all year we had what it took to win the district and region, I knew we just had to go through the process to get there,” Valentine said. “Losing three in row forced us to rethink some things and really understand the importance of defending and rebounding. Our guys never flinched along the way and we just stuck to what we know. We just felt like if we kept coming in everyday and working hard, some breaks would go our way.”
Valentine credits his players’ mindset and work ethic as a major reason the Jaguars were able to move through the season’s ups and downs.
“I’m a firm believer that hard work and doing the right thing will take you a long way in life and basketball,” Valentine said. “These guys have the ability to not get rattled and just keep working. As coaches, we have a ton of belief in our players and they trust and believe in us. It makes it easy to coach when you have a great group of guys like we do.”
By the end of the season, North Laurel had once again accomplished its primary goals — winning district and regional championships and continuing the program’s run as one of the top teams in the state.
“Winning the region is always special,” Valentine said. “I always remind our players to not take any of our success for granted. Some guys play four years and never win a district. A lot of things have to go your way for that to happen. Some guys coach 20 years and never win a region title.
“We are extremely blessed to win four out of five region titles,” he added. “It’s a testament to the hard work our players have put in and their ability to handle both success and failure. I’m extremely grateful to have talented players in our program, parents that support their son and our team, administration that cares about winning and a community that supports our program to allow us to make this a great experience for our players.”
