‘We’re as good as anybody.’ North Laurel doesn’t see Warren Central win as upset
Coming into Wednesday’s first round game between No. 6 Warren Central and No. 12 North Laurel in the UK HealthCare Boys’ Basketball Sweet 16, the Jaguars had more blemishes on their record and a perceived bigger hill to climb against a program that had won a state championship as recently as 2023.
Perception did not equal reality.
North Laurel held Warren Central to just four points in the second quarter and withstood a mini comeback in the second half to pull away to a relatively easy 52-38 victory at Rupp Arena.
Being outranked by Warren Central in the final Kentucky Media Elite 16 and other polls, didn’t concern North Laurel’s Mr. Basketball finalist Reece Davidson.
“I think we’re as good as anybody. I have a lot of confidence in our team,” said Davidson, who had a game-high 20 points and went 3-for-3 from 3-point range. “It doesn’t really matter what they (the media) say. That just gives us more motivation to prove them wrong.”
Warren Central started the game with four straight 3-pointers, two off the bench from Karaun Johnson and one each from Kaleb Prince and Armani Byrd. But the Jaguars held a 13-12 lead at the period break.
North Laurel coach Nate Valentine acknowledged being surprised a bit by the Dragons’ long-range success, but he didn’t change the game plan.
“They’ve got guys who can shoot it, but that’s not what they do. They drive and get to the rim,” Valentine said. “After that, we kind of kept doing the same thing. We just wanted to keep them out of the paint and contest shots, make it tough on them.”
Warren Central made only two of 11 field goal attempts in the second quarter, including 0-for-6 from deep. The woeful shooting only improved slightly in the second half. The Dragons shot 29.2 percent from the field for the game.
Johnson led Warren Central (26-4) with 13 points. Regular season scoring leaders Prince and Byrd had five and three points, respectively.
“They made shots. We didn’t,” Warren Central coach William Unseld said. “ … I think my three leading scorers went 4-for-20. We’re not going to win many games that way. … And every time we got ready to go on a run. They made shots. Credit to them. They played good defense, but we got open shots and didn’t make them.”
North Laurel (29-7) built its lead to 16 points, at 35-19, midway through the third quarter on one of Jordan Rawlings three 3-pointers. But Warren Central clawed within 37-28 going into the fourth as a couple of Jaguars’ turnovers and a Johnson 3-pointer fed an 9-2 Dragons’ run.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Davidson and Kaiden Allen to start the fourth snuffed the rally. Allen finished with 10 points. Sophomore Corey Cunagin added 11.
“We knew they were going to do that and try to string together a few stops,” Davidson said. “Coach just told us to keep our composure and keep doing what we know to do, and we’d be fine.”
If rankings don’t matter, it bodes well for North Laurel against its next opponent, No. 3 St. Xavier. The Jags and Tigers will tip off their quarterfinal at 11 a.m. Friday.
