LEXINGTON — After a basket by senior Brooke Nichelson cut North Laurel’s deficit to 43-42 with 1:38 remaining, George Rogers Clark (GRC) elevated its effort on both ends of the court, scoring the game’s final seven points to secure a 50-42 victory and end the Lady Jaguars’ season in Friday’s quarterfinal action of the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop KHSAA Girls’ Sweet 16.
With the loss, North Laurel saw its 13-game win streak come to an end, finishing the season with a 32-3 record.
Turnovers and shooting struggles proved costly for the Lady Jaguars in their seven-point defeat. North Laurel shot 17-of-42 from the field, including a disappointing 1-of-11 from beyond the arc. They also went 7-of-11 from the free-throw line and won the rebounding battle, 32-25.
The biggest factor in the game was North Laurel’s 19 turnovers, which led to 18 points for the Lady Cardinals.
“George Rogers Clark is a very good team, and is very talented,” North Laurel coach Eddie Mahan said. “We knew that coming in. They’re one of the best teams in the state for a reason. They’re very talented.
“We had a chance tonight, but we had a few things that didn’t go our way,” he added. “At the end of the day, it really comes down to making those runs and extending those runs, and they just had one too many for us. I can’t be any more prouder of my kids. If you were in the stands today, you were blessed with a good ballgame between two very good teams, and if I were a fan today, I would have loved this. Unfortunately, my kids are brokenhearted right now.”
Nichelson led North Laurel with 22 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks, and one steal while Mariella Claybrook finished with eight points, seven rebounds, two blocks, one assist and one steal. Haley Combs scored eight points on 3-of-3 shooting, finishing with four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
GRC shot 19-of-47 from the floor while hitting only 1-of-8 shot attempts from 3-point range. The Lady Cardinals were 11-of-13 from the free-throw line and turned the ball over 12 times leading to six Lady Jaguar points.
GRC was led by a balanced scoring attack. Kennedy Stamper and Ciara Byars each scored 10 points apiece for the Lady Cardinals while Teigh Yeast had nine points, and Jailenn Green finished with eight points. Kyleigh Chestnut added seven points while Khania Jones chipped in six points.
Turnovers played a big role in GRC taking an early 8-4 lead in the first quarter.
North Laurel had five miscues during the first five and a half minutes while Nichelson scored the Lady Jaguars’ first basket at the 5:16 mark.
Nichelson continued her impressive play the remainder of the first quarter, scoring all nine of North Laurel’s points while grabbing four rebounds.
Stamper led the Lady Cardinals with four points while GRC shot 4-of-14 from the floor in the first quarter, and the Lady Jaguars were 4-of-12.
Carl’s layup with 7:41 left in the second quarter gave North Laurel its first lead of the game at 11-10.
Stamper answered with a layup of her own with 6:54 remaining, giving the Lady Cardinals a 12-11.
Byars answered with a layup pushing her team’s lead to 14-11. A jumper by Combs cut the Lady Jaguars’ deficit to 16-15 at the 2:01 mark.
A 3-pointer by Chestnut right before the end of the first half gave the Lady Cardinals their largest lead at 21-15, but Claybrook answered at the buzzer to make the score, 21-17 at halftime.
North Laurel struggled shooting in the first half, hitting 7-of-22 shot attempts, including a 1-of-6 effort from 3-point range. The Lady Jaguars also turned the ball over 10 times.
Nichelson led the way with 11 points and seven rebounds while Claybrook, Combs and Carl each had two points apiece.
The Lady Cardinals hit 8-of-25 shot attempts in the first half while connecting on only 1-of-7 from behind the arc. Stamper led GRC with eight points while Byars and Green had four points apiece.
The Lady Cardinals built eight point leads on two occasions, but a jumper by Claybrook cut North Laurel’s deficit to 27-21 with under six minutes remaining in the third quarter.
After a scoring drought from both teams, Combs knocked down two free throws to cut her team’s deficit at 30-26 with 1:52 left in the third quarter.
Nichelson followed with a blocked shot and two made free throws, making the score, 30-28, with 1:39 left.
Nichelson tied the game with a layup at 30 apiece while another defensive stop by the Lady Jaguars led to Combs’ layup with 50 seconds remaining to give North Laurel a 32-30 edge.
GRC closed the quarter out with four points to take a 34-32 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Lady Jaguars briefly tied the game at 34 apiece after a basket by Nichelson at the 7:38 mark of the fourth quarter, but the Lady Cardinals responded with a 5-0 spurt to take a 39-34 edge with under five minutes left.
Claybrook’s turnaround jumper with 4:14 remaining made the score, 39-36, but a putback by Byars with 3:41 remaining gave GRC a 41-36 edge.
Combs followed with another basket, cutting North Laurel’s deficit to, 41-38, at the 3:21 mark.
Nichelson came up with a steal and a layup with 1:38 remaining to cut GRC’s lead to 43-42. She had a chance to tie the game, but missed the free throw.
After a missed shot by Sizemore, Yeast followed with an old-fashioned 3-point play to make the score, 46-42, and followed by forcing a turnover, giving the Lady Cardinals the ball back with 29.1 seconds.
GRC closed the game out with four more points, securing a four-point win.
