Nonstop Nichelson leads No. 8 North Laurel’s late rally past No. 4 Franklin County
If you aim to stop North Laurel’s Brooke Nichelson, it’s best to not let her get going.
At last year’s Girls’ Sweet 16 in Rupp Arena, Franklin County and foul trouble limited the 5-foot-11 blonde blur to six points in 20 minutes of the Flyers’ 51-30 first-round win.
The No. 4 Flyers had no such luck at home against Nichelson and her No. 8 Jaguars on Monday as North Laurel rallied from an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Flyers 63-57.
Nichelson scored 11 of her 33 points in the fourth, including a putback basket that gave North Laurel its first lead of the game at 54-53 with 3:23 left.
“We knew we had to push the ball and we knew we wanted to win to make a statement,” said Nichelson, who signed with Murray State in November. “We had to play better than we did the first couple of quarters.”
The Jaguars’ comeback included a pair of Bella Sizemore 3-pointers during a 12-3 run early in the final frame. The second 3-pointer came in transition as Nichelson grabbed a rebound and sprinted downcourt into the lane for a kick-out to Sizemore on the right wing.
“She’s just got another gear, especially in transition,” Franklin County coach Joey Thacker said. “She may be the best female athlete that we’ve played, and we played some WNBA farm teams down at the Beach Ball Classic. … It’s just her ability to go get the ball no matter where it is.”
Moments later, Nichelson led another fast break and finished with a short runner in traffic for a 60-57 lead with 1:48 left. North Laurel’s defense held from there.
When Nichelson’s at her best, “I’m everywhere,” she said. “I like the hustle plays a lot.”
North Laurel (22-2) also benefited from one of sophomore Mariella Claybrook’s best games of the season. The 5-11 center scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, including four offensive boards.
Madison Jackson led Franklin County (21-3) with 15 points. Jaylin Edmondson and Juliana Frazee added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
“We need tonight. We need four or five more tonights before it counts,” Thacker said of the Flyers’ loss. “I thought we did some really good things offensively until we didn’t make any shots the last two minutes. And I thought we did some really bad block-outs and defensive rotations when we had to get a stop.”
Nichelson burst onto the Kentucky girls high school basketball scene during the first of North Laurel’s back-to-back Girls’ Sweet 16 appearances as 13th Region champs when she scored 26 points against Frederick Douglass in a first-round win as a sophomore.
“Brooke is the best athlete that I’ve coached, college or high school, during my career,” said North Laurel coach Eddie Mahan, who was a longtime assistant at the University of the Cumberlands before taking over North Laurel in 2011. “She is an unbelievable kid, an unbelievable athlete, and just, I think, underappreciated, sometimes.”
This season, Nichelson is averaging 21.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game as part of one of the most distinguished girls senior classes in state history, a group that includes LSU signee ZaKiyah Johnson of Sacred Heart, Notre Dame signee Leah Macy of Bethlehem, Michigan signee Ciara Byars of George Rogers Clark and Louisville signee Grace Mbugua of Danville Christian.
No doubt when this season’s region players of the year and Miss Basketball nominees are announced next week, Nichelson will be among them.
But getting back to Rupp Arena remains the most important goal. North Laurel has dipped slightly in the Kentucky Girls High School Basketball Media Poll after a pair of close losses this month. The Jaguars have offset that by a pair of wins over top 10 Madison Central and now, Franklin County.
Nichelson knows her team will have to play like it did in the fourth quarter Monday in order to win a third straight region crown.
“I felt like we made a statement. But we can’t just settle here,” she said. “We have to get better and better each game and work our butts off in practice so we can get back to the Sweet 16.”
