For the first time in more than two months, Nate Valentine’s North Laurel Jaguars were finally able to be back at full speed after having to deal with injuries to key players throughout the first 16 games of the season.
With Gavin Chadwell, Ryan Davidson, and Colton Rawlings all back, the Jaguars hung tough during Sunday’s Spalding HoopHall Classic before falling to the nation’s No. 19 ranked team, Mount St. Joseph in a hard fought battle, 54-48.
“This has been an unbelievable experience for our team,” Valentine said. “We are very grateful to have the opportunity to participate in the Hall of Fame Classic.
“We are disappointed in the end result today because we felt like we could have won the game,” he added. “We were very passive early and dug ourselves in a hole early. We didn’t execute on both ends of the floor the way we needed to. This was a good game for us to get back to full strength and play a very good team. We will continue to learn and move forward.”
North Laurel hung tough throughout the prestigious event, which is invite only, trailing 15-8 in the first quarter, 29-21 at halftime, and 42-38 entering the fourth quarter.
Ryan Davidson led the Jaguars (9-8) with 14 points while University of Kentucky signee Reed Sheppard added 13 points. Gavin Chadwell turned in a nine-point scoring effort while Colton Rawlings (eight points), and Brody Brock (four points) followed.
North Laurel will be back in action Tuesday on the road against 49th District foe Jackson County before hosting Clay County in another 49th District showdown on Friday.
It will mark the first time since early December that the Jaguars have played consecutive games against 13th Region opponents.
