HARLAN — Eddie Mahan’s North Laurel Lady Jaguars extended their win streak to five games while improving to 23-5 overall, but they’re still struggling to put a full game together.
Case in point — Thursday’s 57-46 win over Harlan County.
The Lady Jaguars got the lead and led throughout the game, but never out the Lady Black Bears (16-13) away until late in the fourth quarter.
“We built up throughout the game getting better into what was a pretty good third quarter for us,” Mahan said. “Unfortunately, all of the good things we did in the first three quarters we stopped doing in the fourth. We tend to go hard when needed and cruise when we feel we can.
“That’s not the way we need to have an approach to the game starting next week,” he added. “We did show just how strong we are inside, as we scored 40 points in the paint. The trio of Chloe McKnight, Mariella Claybrook and Brooke Nichelson all working in the post gave us a clear cut advantage. When people try and take that away, you have shooters like Jaelyn Black and Gracie McKnight ready to knock it down from the perimeter. After a hard road trip tonight, we have to rebound quickly as we have an athletic Henry Clay team waiting at their place tomorrow night.”
Chloe McKnight led North Laurel with 17 points while Brooke Nichelson finished with 15 points, and Mariella Claybrook added 14 points.
Harlan County’s Ella Karst led all scorers with 21 points. She also recorded her 500th career rebound.
