LONDON — South Laurel snapped a six-game losing skid to crosstown rival North Laurel during Tuesday’s cross-town showdown, winning, 56-40.
The Cardinals (2-0) put on another display of solid defensive play, limiting the struggling Jaguars (0-4) to only 10 points in the first half, and a season-low 40 points for the game.
“It was a good game for us,” South Laurel coach Jeff Davis said. “We’d been off for a week, and our guys played well and guarded OK, but we still have a ways to go.
“I thought we played hard,” he added. “They’re a good team. I know it hurt them when Reece (Davidson) tweaked his ankle. It makes a difference when you don’t have a player like him on the court. It was a good win, and we will try and learn from different things from this game, and try to get better.”
Colton Rawlings turned in a game-high 24 points against his former team, including scoring 17 of those in the first half. He finished with two 3-pointers while hitting all five of his free throw attempts. Jordan Mabe followed with 19 points while turning in a solid defensive effort. He hit a 3-pointer and was 5-of-8 from the free-throw line.
North Laurel jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but then it was all South Laurel.
The Cardinals closed out the first quarter with a 9-3 run before outscoring the Jaguars, 21-3, in the second quarter.
Rawlings scored five points in the first quarter while Mabe added four points. Rawlings added 12 more points in the second quarter while Mabe scored five points as South Laurel held a 30-10 advantage at halftime.
The Jaguars managed to outscore the Cardinals, 30-26, during the second half but dug themselves too big of a hole. They hit five 3-pointers during the final 16 minutes.
“We just aren’t where I thought we would be at this point in the season,” North Laurel coach Nate Valentine said. “I had hoped we would be further along but we are not. We will get back to work and try to improve.”
Jordan Rawlings led North Laurel with 11 points while Brody Brock added eight points, and Kaiden McQueen finished with seven points.
Harrison Brown added five points for South Laurel while Max Fulmer finished with three points.
