Give all the credit to North Laurel; they came out hot, won the game in the first quarter, and never looked back in the 49thdistrict championship, winning 56-46.
The Tigers dug an early 1st-quarter hole they could just never get out of. The victory is North’s seventh 49th district championship in the last nine seasons.
North Laurel led by double digits from the 5:00 minute mark in the first quarter to 3:30 remaining in the game in the fourth. A big shot by Clay’s Jacob Rogers cut the deficit to eight at 48-40.
The Jaguars’ first field goal of the fourth quarter didn’t come until the 2:51 mark on a basket by Cooper Elza. Elza scored four in a row to put his team ahead at 52-40. Clay’s Rogers banged home a deep three with 1:24 to cut the lead back to single digits at 53-43. The Tigers called a timeout after the made basket.
North received a backcourt violation, and Rogers came to his team’s rescue once again with his fifth three-pointer of the game to 52-46 with just over a minute to play.
Clay just ran out of time as they could never pull any closer. The first quarter hole was simply too deep.
It took over four minutes for the Tigers to pick up a bucket in the first quarter as North jumped out to a 12-0 lead. When the dust settled, the Jaguars led 17-6 with all six points coming from Wagers.
The second quarter wasn’t much better for Tiger fans. The closest Clay got was 24-15, and North hit a three on the next possession by Kaiden Allen to race back to a double-digit lead. The half ended with the Jags leading 33-15 on a buzzer beater by Cooper Elza.
Clay was led in scoring by Jacob Rogers with 23 points and Aiden Wagers with 20. Jay Nicholson added three.
The Tigers will advance to the 13th Region tournament as runners-up. Tune in Saturday and we will have the 13th Region Tournament draw.
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