Balanced scoring combined with a 25-point scoring effort from Chloe McKnight allowed North Laurel to hand crosstown rival South Laurel an 85-59 loss on Thursday.
McKnight did it all during the Lady Jaguars’ biggest win over their county rivals since defeating the Lady Cardinals by 33 points back on Feb. 6, 2016.
She blocked shots (five), she rebounded well (eight), and she altered numerous shot attempts throughout the contest.
“Chloe McKnight has had a great preseason and I think she showed some of her growth as a player tonight as well,” North Laurel coach Eddie Mahan said. “Her dominance is what will lead to our guards getting multiple open looks.”
It wasn’t a one player show by no means, though.
Senior Emily Sizemore scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half while Brooke Nichelson added 13 points, and Mariella Claybrook finished with 10 points. Bella Sizemore added nine points while Jaelyn Black contributed a six-point scoring effort.
Emily Sizemore finished with seven rebounds, and seven steals while Nicholson also had seven steals.
All 10 of North Laurel’s varsity players scored in the win.
“It’s tough being the coach on nights like tonight,” Mahan admitted. “Part of me wants to enjoy the opening night win over our crosstown rival but unfortunately as the coach I seen all of the mistakes.
“My focus is how we didn’t play well defensively or rebound very well,” he added. “I would just mark that down as first games issues but we had played such good defense in our scrimmages that I went in thinking that was one of our strong points going into the season. While I seen so many things we did wrong I will say that I believe we are showing a good commitment to our offensive game and I hope this unselfishness continues.”
Emily Cox turned in a 30-point scoring effort for the Lady Cardinals (1-1). She had 10 points in the first half while also scoring 10 points in the third and fourth quarters. Teammate Skeeter Mabe knocked down three 3-pointers and finished with 14 points while Shelbie Mills added six points.
“Well we told the girls at the beginning of the season that with our youth that will will have wins and lessons not losses,” South Laurel coach Chris Souder said. “So, I’m not discouraged at all. Our kids played hard, North Laurel is just better and more experienced than we are right now.
“I loved the play of Emily Cox and Skeeter Mabe,” he added. “Just need some others to join them and we have some that are plenty capable. We will get better as it goes on. North Laurel is a really good team but we want to play good teams early to expose our weaknesses.”
McKnight scored 10 points while Bella Sizemore added five points to give North Laurel a 20-14 lead entering the second quarter.
McKnight added eight more points in the second quarter while Claybrook scored seven points to push the Lady Jaguars’ lead to 39-26 at halftime.
Despite Cox’s 20 points during the final two quarter, South Laurel struggled to stay in the game.
Six points apiece by Nichelson and McKnight combined with Emily Sizemore’s five points allowed North Laurel to outscore South Laurel, 26-15, in the third quarter to wrapup the win.
