[Local News]

Tigers edge North Laurel

The Clay County Tigers claimed another 49th District title on Friday defeating North Laurel 68-65 in Manchester. Senior forward William Jones powered Clay County (24-5) with 23 points. Desmond Swafford followed with 13 points. Zach Lewis and Anthony Hibbard scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.

North Laurel jumped out to a 16-15 lead after the opening quarter.
The Tigers held a 30-21 advantage midway through the second quarter when Swafford and Dylan Sizemore got into foul trouble. The Jaguars fought back and took a 33-32 halftime advantage. North Laurel led 54-50 entering the final period.

Clay County outscored the Jaguars 18-11 in the fourth quarter. Billy Carson, a senior guard, led North Laurel (13-15) with 19 points. Justin Howard added 15 points while Shanade Allen scored 12.

Clay County (68) William Jones 23, Desmond Swafford 13, Zach Lewis 11, Anthony Hibbard 10, Dylan Sizemore 7, Ryan Lee Smith 2, Justin Hobbs 2.

North Laurel (65) Billy Carson 19, Justin Howard 15, Shanade Allen 12, Taylor Smith 6, Shawn Asher 5, Matt Cornelius 4, Nick Shannon 3, Anthony Thrabish 1.

Other districts

The Knox Central Lady Panthers slipped past Pineville 61-52 in the girls championship game of the 51st District tournament Friday at Pineville. Brittany Jordan paced Knox Central (20-9) with 27 points, and Wendi Messer added 20. Pineville (11-17) was led by Chasity Fuston with 17 points and Leslie Howard with 15.

In the 50th District, the host Corbin Lady Hounds claimed a 65-55 victory over South Laurel in the title game.

New district, same result: Bobcats win

Even though winning district championships is nothing new for coach Eddie Whitaker and the Bell County Bobcats, there was something special about the Bobcats’ ninth straight title. The adversity that has been such a big part of the Bobcats’ 2006 season made this year’s title the most satisfying, according to Whitaker.

The return of Whitaker’s son, Ryan, to full strength certainly helped the Bobcats’ cause. Whitaker, a junior guard who missed 17 games with a broken bone in his foot before coming back to the lineup on Feb. 9, looked like his old self Friday as he scored 23 points.

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[Local News]

North Laurel loses heartbreaker to Clay
By LES DIXON

Close, but no cigar.

Jim Conway's North Laurel Jaguars fought back from an 11-point deficit and led by as many as nine points in the third quarter, but couldn't hold on, as Glenn Gray's Clay County Tigers won 68-65 to capture the 49th District championship.

The game had lots of fireworks with North Laurel fighting back from a double-digit deficit to a fan storming the court and being tackled by numerous police officers and security guards. Conway admitted his team let the game slip away by taking untimely shots and turning the ball over. Clay County took charge early in the second quarter by going on 15-3 run, which gave the Tigers a 30-19 advantage.

North Laurel didn't have an answer for Clay County's Will Jones, Dylan Sizemore or Desmond Swafford. The trio combined to score Clay County's first 15 points of the second period and 43 points for the game. Clay County led 67-63 with :30 remaining when Anthony Trabish was called for an intentional foul, which resulted in a fan storming the court. Sizemore missed both free throw attempts, which gave the Jaguars some life.

Carson scored with :11 remaining to make the score 67-65 and Swafford hit 1-of-2 free throw attempts to give his team a 3-point lead. North Laurel rebounded his second free throw shot and Carson's 3-point try at the buzzer fell short. Jones led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while Carson led North Laurel with a 19-point effort on 8-of-11 shooting.

The Tigers turned the ball over 17 times and finished the game hitting 23-of-41 shot attempts from the floor and 11-of-17 shot attempts in the second half. The Jaguars turned the ball over eight times and hit 24-of-44 shot attempts from the floor.

North Laurel (65) Allen 12, Carson 19, Smith 6, Howard 15, Asher 5, Cornelious 4, T. Lewis 0, Shannon 3, Trabish 1.

Clay County (68) Smith 2, Hobbs 2, Hibbard 10, Jones 0, Lewis 11, Swafford 13, Sizemore 7, Jones 23, Mathis 0.

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[Local News]

Resurgent Smith leads Bell to district crown

The 13th Region’s leading scorer broke out of a rare two-game slump with 24 points and 10 rebounds Saturday as she led Bell County to a 52-48 victory over top-seeded Middlesboro in the 52nd District Tournament championship at Bell County.

One of Smith’s most important contributions may not even be reflected in her stat line. The Lady Jackets’ decision to double-team the senior forward in the post led to early foul trouble for Middlesboro’s starting frontcourt of sophomore Brooklyn Jimison and senior Mary Flanary, both of whom missed the majority of the first half.

The intracounty rivals are no strangers to one another, having met seven times in the past two seasons. Middlesboro upset Bell in the first round of last year’s 51st District Tournament and took two of three from the Lady Bobcats during the regular season this year.

In addition to Smith’s 24 points, Dixon also reached double figures for the Lady Cats with 14. Both teams advance to this week’s regional tournament at Clay County. Bell County (18-11) will face 51st District runner-up Pineville in the first round on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Middlesboro will face 49th District champion Clay County, the state’s No. 3 team, on Thursday at 8 p.m.

Smith earned tournament MVP honors. She was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Baker, Frady, Maggie Miracle and Teagan Brock. Middlesboro was represented by Shaleesha Coleman, Flanary and Jimison. Kendra Latham and Caroline Huff were Harlan’s representatives on the squad, while Emily Boggs and Sierra Wynn represented Cawood. Cumberland’s Sarah Adams and Evarts’ Samantha Thomas rounded out the team.

Cawood won the cheerleading competition, with Bell County placing second.

49th District

After playing the bridesmaid to a pair of regional powers for the last several years, the Clay County Lady Tigers have finally reclaimed their place, defeating North Laurel 76-52 on Saturday to win their first district title since 1996. Senior guard Jayme Gilbert paced Clay County (28-2) with 22 points. Page Jackson added 19.

North Laurel (13-16) was led by Casey Karr with 12 points. Caitie Jackson and Kayla Bargo added 11 apiece. The Lady Tigers will face 52nd District runner-up Middlesboro in the first round of the 13th Region Tournament on Thursday at 8 p.m. North Laurel will take on 50th District champ Corbin on Wednesday at 8 p.m.

Clay County (76) Jayme Gilbert 22, Page Jackson 19, Meleah Roberts 12, Jenna Wilson 5, Sarah Burchell 5, Stephanie Jackson 4, Mariah Aubrey 4, Gemma Gray 3, Danielle Fisher 2.

North Laurel (52) Casey Karr 12, Caitie Jackson 11, Kayla Bargo 11, Bobbie Jo Harris 5, Stephanie Strange 5, McKenzie Prichard 2, Morgan Emery 2, Chelsea McQueen 2, Pate Williams 2.

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[Local News]

South Laurel and Clay County Lady Tigers undefeated against 13th Region teams

Opposing boys' and girls' coaches that are participating in this week's 13th Region Tournament believe the regional championship is the South Laurel Cardinals and Clay County Lady Tigers to lose. Both teams enter the 13th Region Tournament with identical 12-0 records against 13th Region opponents. The Cardinals (24-5) are the defending state champions, while the Lady Tigers (28-2) have been rated as one of the top teams in the state the entire season.

On the boys' side, Anthony Pennington's Lynn Camp Wildcats will be participating in the regional tournament for the first time in 40 years, but the down side to the Wildcats' (15-11) regional appearance is having to play South Laurel in the first round.

Clay County Tigers coach Glenn Gray believes South Laurel is the team to beat, but admitted anything can happen at this point of the season. Though their teams might be the tournament favorites, both South Laurel coach Steve Wright and Clay County coach Donnie Gray admitted playing in the tournament is going to be a walk in the park.

Tony Pietrowski's Corbin Redhounds (17-10) are the defending 13th Region champions and have the ability and talent to win the tournament, but they'll have to beat Clay County first. The two teams played each other in February at Clay County (24-5) and the Tigers came away with a 67-61 win. The last time Clay County and Corbin played against each other in a 13th Region Tournament game held in Manchester, the Tigers won in overtime, 74-73.

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