North Laurel celebrates ‘special moment’ for Reed Sheppard with win over Covington Catholic
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A packed house at North Laurel High School on a Friday night in February has become the norm in recent years for Reed Sheppard and the No. 14 Jaguars.
But Sheppard being recognized as a McDonald’s All-American before a big rematch with No. 7 Covington Catholic amped up the atmosphere even more. And North Laurel fed the frenzy with a 72-58 victory Friday that avenged its loss to the Colonels in Covington three weeks ago.
“It’s an incredible feeling being able to play in the McDonald’s game, but being recognized before this big game against CovCath was a really special moment,” said Sheppard, the Kentucky commit who is the state’s first McDonald’s All-American since Bowling Green’s Chane Behanan in 2011. “The students were going crazy. It was an awesome game and it was exciting for me to be a part of.”
Before Friday’s tip-off, Sheppard stood with McDonald’s representatives, his family and his teammates at center court with a large framed certificate commemorating his place on that high school all-star team.
After the tip-off, Sheppard scored 19 points with seven rebounds, seven assists and one thunderous first-half dunk in the win over CovCath, a team that held him to just four points in their previous matchup.
“I give all credit to Coach and my teammates,” Sheppard said of the turnaround. “(Coach Nate Valentine) put in some plays for us to get movement in the middle, cuts and backdoors … they all hit open shots and got rebounds. They all played amazing.”
North Laurel enjoyed a size advantage inside with 6-foot-4 guard Ryan Davidson and 6-foot-4 forward Gavin Chadwell. Davidson scored a team-high 21 points to go with seven rebounds while Chadwell had a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards. North Laurel dominated the glass with a 41-19 rebounding margin.
“When everybody loads up on Reed, (Chadwell and Davidson) are able to run free and rebound the ball and that was our emphasis tonight,” Valentine said. “I think we outrebounded them by 17 in the first half. That was the difference in the game early. We were able to get some separation and just hang on.”
North Laurel expanded a 34-21 halftime lead to as many as 20 points and had that edge, 55-35, at the end of the third quarter.
Covington Catholic (21-5) rallied with a 17-4 run in the fourth quarter to trim its deficit to 59-52 with 3:05 left in the game, but could get no closer as foul shots, including a CovCath technical down the stretch, helped North Laurel stem the threat. Evan Ipsaro led three Colonels in double figures with 22 points. Kascyl McGillis and Brady Hussey added 16 and 13 points, respectively.
The win gave the Jaguars (18-10) their ninth win in their last 11 games as they continue to try to build chemistry ahead of the postseason after having a number of players out injured for long stretches. Chadwell missed 14 games with a knee injury before returning in mid-January. Several other players have been dinged up along the way.
“At the beginning of the season we had everybody and then really quickly lost everybody,” Davidson said. “So, it feels good to get everybody back firing on all cylinders again and I just hope we can keep it going into the postseason.”
North Laurel closes out the regular season next week against 13th Region rivals Knox Central and Corbin before the 49th District playoffs begin on Feb. 20. The Jags are the district’s top seed and the defending region champions. They’re looking for a return trip to Rupp Arena next month for the Boys’ Sweet 16.
“I think we know who we are, and I think we have a chance to win every single game that we play,” Valentine said. “It just comes down to who can get stops and rebounds and make some shots. I like where we’re headed and I feel like we can get a lot better with this new team we have here in the next two weeks and hopefully make a good run at it.”
This story was originally published February 11, 2023 at 8:32 AM.
