‘Ready to play.’ Clark opens up offense to knock North Laurel from Girls’ Sweet 16.
George Rogers Clark came to Rupp Arena on Friday with the best crowd, so far, of the Mingua Beef Jerky Girls’ Sweet 16.
And Clark’s comprehensive 63-48 win over North Laurel in the quarterfinals thrilled the students and fans who got a free ticket and school bus ride from Winchester to downtown Lexington courtesy of Clark County Schools.
“There was a lot of red in the building,” Clark Coach Robbie Graham said. “It’s great to see people come watch these girls play.”
Perhaps feeding off that energy, Clark guards Kennedy Stamper and Trinity Gay knocked down two three-pointers each in the first quarter. Stamper also converted a three-point play as she was fouled on a long three attempt at the first-quarter horn for a 21-13 lead.
By halftime, Clark had a 36-22 edge North Laurel ultimately could not overcome. Stamper finished with 14 points, all in the first half, while Gay had 13.
“Our teammates, they came ready to play, and they were knocking down shots. … We always feed the hot hand, so that’s what we were doing,” said sophomore Ciara Byars, one half of the sister duo opponents must focus on when facing Clark.
Ciara Byars, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, took over in the second half, scoring 17 of her game-high 25 points. Her 6-foot senior sister, Brianna, chipped in eight.
“Once Trinity and Kennedy came out knocking down threes that kind of opened up our offense,” Graham said. “And we feel really good about our matchups with Ciara and Bri down on the post one-on-one.”
North Laurel Coach Eddie Mahan Jr. confirmed that Clark’s outside shooting wrecked the Jaguars defensively.
“George Rogers Clark is a tough matchup for most people with their size and athleticism. Obviously, a lot of people talk about the Byars sisters, but there was a whole lot more today,” Mahan said. “We came in with a game plan. I thought we executed well early on, but they were able to shoot us out of it.”
Full-court pressure helped the Jaguars scrap within nine points at 50-41 early in the fourth quarter, but Clark responded with seven fourth quarter points from Ciara Byars and four more from Gay to help seal the game.
North Laurel (30-7) struggled to get its offense going against Clark, shooting 38 percent from the field and making only two of 14 three-pointers. They were 0-for-6 from beyond the arc in the first half at the same time Clark’s shooters were lighting it up.
Dynamic sophomore Brooke Nichelson scored 24 points and Miss Basketball candidate Emily Sizemore added 15, but Chloe McKnight’s nine points were the only other scores the Jaguars could put on the board.
Next up, Clark (28-7) was to face No. 1 Sacred Heart, the two-time defending state champs, in the semifinals. The Valkyries beat Clark 54-53 earlier this season in Winchester and ousted the Cardinals from last year’s Sweet 16 in the quarterfinals.
Clark is one of five schools, along with Ashland Blazer, Frederick Douglass, McCracken County and North Laurel to qualify this year for both the girls’ and boys’ Sweet 16s. The latter usually draws bigger crowds in the regular season and tournaments.
“A lot of times, girls’ basketball kind of gets pushed aside,” Graham said. “No offense to boys’ basketball, but the girls are in the gym two hours a day just like they are, six days a week. We’re grinding like they are, and these girls work extremely hard. To see our community come out and support these girls means a lot to me as their head coach and to them as a program.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2023 at 6:14 PM.
