North Laurel High School looking for first Sweet 16 win
LONDON, Ky. (FOX 56) — The North Laurel High School boys are back in the KHSAA Sweet 16 state tournament and will take on Breathitt County at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday at Rupp Arena.
'We were really good defensively in the region tournament, you know, and that's one thing that you have to be,' head coach Nate Valentine said. 'You got to be able to get stops, and then you have to be able to rebound the ball at the same time when you do get them to miss.'
North Laurel High School looking for first Sweet 16 win
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Danville Christian preparing for its first Sweet 16 appearance
The Jaguars are no strangers to playing at Rupp. The boys have made it to the Sweet 16 in three of the past four seasons, thanks in large part to the play of former Kentucky and current Houston Rockets guard Reed Sheppard. But despite the star power in London, North Laurel has yet to win a game on the biggest stage in the Bluegrass state.
'I think this team didn't have a lot of expectations on them. You know, early in the season, a lot of people had them seventh or eighth in our own region, you know, and then kind of flew under the radar,' Valentine said. 'We played a really tough schedule. And, you know, our guys just kept fighting and kept getting better. And, you know, you look up and all of a sudden you're in the region finals with a shot to win.'
North Laurel survived overtime games in the 13th region tournament semifinals against Harlan County and the championship game against arch-rival South Laurel, which should give them an edge if they find themselves in similar situations late in games.
'Our last two games in the region both went into overtime, and to be able to just fight it out and win those games is, you know, really important going into this tournament,' senior guard Kole Jervis said. 'We'll probably have games just like that where it's really close, and so to be able to finish those games off will be really good.'
Read more of the latest sports news
The KHSAA Sweet 16 tournament officially tips off on Wednesday.
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