LONDON — Life without Reed Sheppard in the lineup wasn’t as bad as expected last season as Nate Valentine’s North Laurel Jaguars posted a winning record at 17-16, despite losing 97 percent of of their scoring output the season before.
Valentine instilled a never say quit attitude in his team as North Laurel battled all the way to the 49th District title game before bowing out to Knox Central during first round play of the 13th Region Tournament despite having to deal with injuries to key players throughout the season.
The Jaguars return a solid core of players that’s ready to lead North Laurel atop the 49th District and 13th Region.
“After losing 97 percent of our scoring the previous year, we return our core nucleus of what was an extremely young team last year,” Valentine said. “Our guys are a year older and have worked extremely hard in the offseason. They have gotten stronger and expanded their game.”
Reece Davidson, Kole Jervis, Jordan Rawlings, Joel Smith, Cooper Elza and RJ Noble return to the mix for Valentine.
Davidson is one of the best players in the region, he led North Laurel with a 14.8 scoring average while Rawlings and Jervis followed with identical 10.8 scoring averages.
Joel Smith averaged seven points per game while Cooper Elza came on strong and finished with a 3.2 scoring average. RJ Noble also saw playing time, and finished with a 3.2 scoring average.
Evan Zarate, Cam Anderson, Kaiden Allen, and Brayden Hampton are also expected to contribute this season.
North Laurel will be tested early and often by another tough slate which includes home games against Lexington Catholic, Jefferstown, Henry Clay and South Laurel.
“We will once again play a very challenging schedule that will test us early,” Valentine said. “We will be battle tested by tournament time.”
Valentine is excited for the season to tip-off, and expects his team to make a deep run in postseason play this winter.
“We will have very good balance this year offensively,” he said. “The region is extremely balanced again this year with a number of teams capable of winning. Everyone in our program has been very committed to get North Laurel back to the top of the 13th Region.”
