Flash and substance: Reed Sheppard scores 50 in North Laurel comeback win in overtime
Bringing the ball up court just before halftime, North Laurel’s Reed Sheppard saw enough space in the lane to glide in for a one-handed slam dunk in traffic Monday against Pleasure Ridge Park in the quarterfinals of the White, Greer and Maggard Holiday Classic at Lexington Catholic.
The crowd inside Bueter Gym buzzed.
Requiring daring, skill and leaping ability, it’s a play someone might see once every few years in high school. Sheppard, a 6-foot-3 junior who recently committed to Kentucky, breaks it out every few games with the seeming ease of a layup drill.
That’s one of the reasons why Kentucky Coach John Calipari turned up to watch Sheppard on Sunday in the Jaguars’ opening-round win over Trinity.
And it’s why several current Wildcats, including Sahvir Wheeler, TyTy Washington, Kellan Grady, CJ Fredrick and Brennan Canada took in Monday’s game in person.
While the dunk was impressive, for a while it looked as if it would just be a footnote in a disappointing holiday tournament loss.
Maybe more impressive, North Laurel, the Herald-Leader’s preseason No. 6 team, turned an 11-point deficit with under four minutes to play in regulation into a 100-94 overtime win over No. 16 Pleasure Ridge Park. The victory advanced the Jaguars to Tuesday’s semifinals where they were to play No. 5 Clark County.
Sheppard scored a game-high 50 points against the Panthers, but the comeback took a combined effort of the whole North Laurel team.
“You’ve just got to keep fighting, keep trusting in your teammates,” Sheppard said. “Coach Valentine was like … ‘You guys were meant to be here. Keep fighting and push through.’ And we had to get some stops on the defensive end and get some big rebounds. And we made some shots.”
The comeback
Trailing 74-63 with 3:36 to play, Sheppard got a driving layup and foul shot that marked the beginning of the comeback — 74-66, 3:23 left.
Over the next few moments, PRP missed a couple of free throws, had an offensive foul and a turnover that gave the Jaguars more life.
Sheppard got fouled on a three-point attempt. He made two of three foul shots to cut the deficit to 78-72 — 1:06 left.
After a pair of PRP free throws, Jaguars’ freshman Colton Rawlings knocked down the first three-pointer of his career to cut the lead to 80-77 — 43 seconds left.
“That was a very big moment,” Sheppard said. Rawlings had scored only two points in their 10 previous games. “He’s kind of like our energy guy. … For him to hit that, it was a heck of a shot for us.”
Then it was Sheppard’s turn. After another pair of made PRP free throws, Sheppard dribbled around a high screen and pulled up from about 23 feet away at the right wing — bottom. The Jaguars trailed 82-80 — 22 seconds.
Full-court pressure induced a PRP traveling violation at midcourt — 16.4 seconds.
Sheppard took the ball directly to the rim for an 82-82 tie — 10 seconds.
North Laurel even had a chance to win it in regulation just before the horn, but Sheppard’s bullet pass from midcourt to Ryan Davidson under the basket was a little too hot to handle cleanly.
As overtime began, Sheppard took the ball away from PRP’s Zee McCown and broke for the other end, driving into the lane and feeding teammate Clay Sizemore for a wide-open transition three-pointer and an 85-82 lead with 3:23 left. The Jaguars never trailed again.
“We just tried to stay positive,” North Laurel Coach Nate Valentine said about the comeback. “I knew there was going to have to be a lot of game (for us to come back). We tried to extend it as much as we could. But, you know, at the end of the day, I have the best player in the state. And he went and made plays when he had to.”
In addition to his 50 points, Sheppard had five rebounds, three assists, four steals and five blocks. Davidson chipped in 23 for the Jaguars and made some key baskets down the stretch. Pleasure Ridge Park (9-2) got a sensational effort from McCown, who scored 39 points with six three-pointers, and from Keith Robinson, who chipped in 26 points. Both are juniors.
A different kind of buzz
Sheppard shot up the class of 2023 recruiting rankings this past summer. Ranked the No. 1 recruit in the state, he’s rated as the No. 17 overall player in the nation by 247Sports.com. He announced his commitment to Kentucky on Nov. 20 just before the season got under way.
The frenzy around him is different now. Even more people know who he is and who he plays for and who he’s going to play for.
“We’ll be going out to eat somewhere and they’ll be like looking around — ‘Where’s Reed? Where’s Reed?” Davidson said, noting their North Laurel gear now gives them away when they are out and about. “It’s kind of funny. It’s gotten a lot crazier this year just from where he committed to Kentucky. … It is what it is. It’s kind of cool.”
But the pressure of what comes next has been relieved.
“I’ve gotten pretty much used to it,” Sheppard said of all the attention. “It’s pretty good now just because it’s all Kentucky stuff and not wondering about where I’m going. It’s pretty cool seeing all the Kentucky fans coming out to all the games.”
Hard lessons from a loss
Last season, Sheppard tied for the state lead in scoring with 30.1 points per game as a sophomore. The son of two Kentucky basketball standouts, the speculation about where he might play in college rose to a fever pitch by season’s end.
But the Jaguars got knocked off by Knox Central in the 13th Region finals. Despite all the hoopla around Sheppard, the setback stung.
“Coming off that loss in the championship game, it would have been very easy for us to quit trusting each other and quit believing in each other,” Sheppard said. “But, you know, a week after, we started workouts and haven’t stopped since.”
After an early stumble against Greenwood, North Laurel (9-2) reached the finals of Louisville’s King of the Bluegrass holiday tournament, taking a 79-67 loss to No. 3 Covington Catholic. Sheppard was named MVP of that tournament despite the finals loss. Now, North Laurel has a couple more wins against quality teams here in Lexington.
North Laurel has all of its starters and most of its bench back from a season ago. Valentine says the Jaguars have gotten used to the hoopla around Sheppard and for them, the season is focused on improving the team and making it to Rupp Arena for the Sweet 16.
“It comes down to one game and anybody can win on any given night,” Valentine said. “We can beat anybody and anybody can beat us. That’s why we’re here playing this schedule. … You never know when it’s your turn, but it’s all going to work out the way that it’s supposed to.”
Tournament schedule
White, Greer & Maggard Holiday Classic at Lexington Catholic
Tuesday’s semifinals
6 p.m. — No. 1 Ballard (9-1) vs. No. 13 Lexington Catholic (10-1).
8 p.m. — No. 6 North Laurel (9-2) vs. No. 5 Clark County (9-1)
Wednesday’s finals
7 p.m. — Championship game.
Tickets: $10.
Live stream: Go.PrepSpin.com
This story was originally published December 28, 2021 at 11:55 AM.
