North Laurel ran its win streak to five games but it wasn’t easy.
The Lady Jaguars (16-4) had to hold off a late rally by Danville Christian before securing a 76-67 win in overtime during Friday Rocket Classic.
Eddie Mahan’s squad led throughout, and entered the fourth quarter holding a 48-40 lead, but Danville Christian’s Grace Mbugua scored 11 of her 17 points during the final eight minutes to force overtime.
North Laurel senior Emily Sizemore sealed the deal in overtime, scoring 10 of her game-high 31 points during the extra period while hitting 8-of-10 from the free-throw line. She finished the contest knocking down 16-of-21 free throw attempts.
“We did not play as well as I was hoping especially early on,” Mahan said. “We had way too many costly turnovers and bad shot selection. It kept them in the game. They made some tough shots at the end of regulation and we were not patient with the ball.
“In overtime, Chloe had already fouled out, so I was worried how our team would respond but Brooke Nichelson got us going with a good pull up jumper and Emily Sizemore made sure we were taking care of the ball,” he added. “She had a hard fought 31 points and 10 rebounds. Chloe McKnight had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Gracie McKnight added 13 rebounds to her seven points. Gracie also had some key steals that was vital for us to win in overtime.”
It looked as if the Lady Jaguars were going to cruise to an easy win, building a 20-12 lead in the first quarter behind Sizemore’s eight points while leading 34-22 at halftime after Jaelyn Black nailed two 3-pointers while Sizemore added four more points.
Brooke Nichelson finished with 12 points along with Chloe McKnight while Gracie McKnight added seven points, and Black finished with six points.
North Laurel will be back in action Saturday against Owensboro Catholic at 10 a.m. during the Lady Jaguars’ second game of the Rocket Classic.
