HYDEN — Another stellar defensive effort played a huge role in North Laurel’s 64-40 win over Perry Central on Thursday.
The Lady Jaguars improved to 6-2 overall thanks to their defensive play that has limited opponents to 40 points or less four times this season.
“It’s our defense that is the consistent part of our game right now, and you can see that in our opponents score and field goal percentage,” North Laurel coach Eddie Mahan said. “We didn’t play up to our potential but we did play more balanced offensively, which is something I loved.“
Chloe McKnight led North Laurel with 20 points while Brooke Nichelson added 14 points. Mariella Claybrook chipped in 11 points while Jaelyn Black finished with 10 points.
“Chloe McKnight when she was in the game was dominate offensively,” Mahan said. “Brooke Nichelson was great in every aspect again and didn’t force anything. She has really focused in on improving her rebounding and you can see that in her stats. Mariella Claybrook is such a special player, with her defense and rebounding be a constant you started to see her offensive game emerge some today. She is a match up problem that as a coach I have to figure out how to utilize more going forward.
“Jaelyn Black in back-to-back games has offensively been a spark for us and we need that,” he added. “We had four players in double figures and that is how I like to play. It really makes it difficult for people to game plan for.
“These are two games that hopefully has got us going in the right direction as next week,” he continued. “We open up the Florida Prospects Classic in Orlando against last year’s 7A state runner up and it looks like a tournament filled full of good teams.”
