LEXINGTON — After running a gauntlet of 13th Region powerhouses on their way to earning the program’s first Sweet Sixteen, the North Laurel Lady Jaguars have long stopped surprising coach Eddie Mahan.

North raced to a 21-4 lead on Thursday in its first-round state tournament game against Henderson County and led all the way in posting a 66-43 victory, earning a quarterfinal matchup against Pulaski Southwestern on Friday.

“This team is different. It’s fearless in many ways,” Mahan said. “We do what we have to do to win.”

The Lady Jaguars’ impressive postseason run began with a showdown against Clay County in the 49th District Tournament and continued with a win over preseason favorite South Laurel in the regional semifinals and then a blowout victory over defending champ Harlan County in the finals.

Henderson missed 12 of its first 13 shots in falling behind by 15 after one quarter. The Lady Colonels, champions of the 2nd Region, fought back to within eight by halftime but came out cold again in the second half as North quickly reclaimed control and stretched its lead back to 16 late in the third period.

“We got off to a bad start. We weren’t making shots early and didn’t do a good job on the post,” Henderson County coach Jeff Hale said.

Raegan Hubbard, North’s 6-foot-4 senior center hit seven of 11 shots and finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for the 31-6 Lady Jaguars. Freshman guard Emily Sizemore finished with a team-high 20 points, while Gracie Jervis tossed in 12 and Hailee Valentine added 11.

Emilee Hope led Henderson (18-9) with 20 points.

———

North Laurel (66) — Isabel Gray 6, Raegan Hubbard 15, Hailee Valentine 11, Gracie Jervis 12, Emily Sizemore 20, Meg Anderson 2.

Henderson County (43) — Alyssa Dickson 5, Katie Rideout 5, Emilee Hope 19, Savannah Lacer 2, Graci Risley 6, M’Kyra Dixon 6.

———

LEXINGTON — Southwestern advanced to quarterfinal action of the KHSAA Girls’ Sweet 16 for the first time in program history after upending Collins on Thursday, 58-47.

The Lady Warriors overcame a 12-8 first quarter deficit while using a 19-6 run in the second quarter to take control of the game. Southwestern finished the game shooting 17-of-45, including 6-of-17 from 3-point territory.

Kallie Sheron was one of four Lady Warrior players to score in double figures. She finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds while Kennedy Harris had 13 points and six rebounds. Regi Cundif finished with 13 points and Alexa Smiddy turned in a 10-point scoring effort.

Olivia Federle was the lone scorer in double figures for the Lady Titans. She finished with 16 points and eight rebounds on 6-of-14 shooting.

Collins built a 12-8 lead in the first half before seeing the Lady Warriors use a 19-6 run in the second quarter to claim a 27-18 lead. The Lady Titans cut their deficit to 40-35 entering the final quarter of play after outscoring the Lady Warriors 17-13 in the third quarter.

Southwestern was able to put the game out of reach after outscoring Collins 18-12 in the fourth quarter.

———

Southwestern (58) — Cundiff 11, Sheron 18, Smiddy 10, Wood 6, Harris 13.

Collins (47) — Warfield 9, Megibben 8, Federle 16, Hallie Renfro 3, Hayes 6, Haley Renfro 5.

———

LEXINGTON —A 12-year state tournament drought didn’t seem to bother Barren County during its 65-47 dominating win over Pikeville.

The Trojanettes (32-4) built a 17-6 lead in the first quarter and used a 10-0 run run the second quarter to pull away to the 18-point victory during Thursday’s opening round action of the Sweet Sixteen.

“I thought we played really, really well from the start. … we never looked back,” Barren County coach Piper J. Lindsey said.

Pikeville (27-8) didn’t have answer for Barren County duo Elizabeth Bertram and Bailey Pedigo, who combined to score 39 points. Bertram led the Trojanettes with 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting while Pedigo added 18 points. Teammate Mallory Pedigo also scored in double figures, finishing with 13 points.

Barren County hit 24-of-53 shot attempts from the floor while outrebounding the Panthers, 45-26. Pikeville struggled throughout the game shooting the ball, finishing from 17-of-55 from the floor.

Kelsey Jo Tackett led Pikeville with 14 points while Kirsten Cole-Williamson added 13 points.

Bertram came out red-hot, scoring eight points in the opening quarter. The Trojanettes connected on 7-of-16 shot attempts while outrebounding Pikeville, 15-5, to build a comfortable 17-6 lead.

The Lady Panthers didn’t help their cause by only hitting 2-of-13 shot attempts from the floor during the game’s first eight minutes.

Barren County took advantage of Pikeville’s continued shooting woes in the second quarter, and managed to increase its lead to a 17-point cushion.

The Lady Panthers opened the period with a basket by Trinity Roe, but the Trojanettes responded with a 10-0 run to push its lead to 27-8 at the 3:10 mark. Bertram had four points during the rally while Karleigh Delk, Mallory Pedigo and Jalynn Bush added baskets.

Barren County’s lead grew to as many as 20 points (30-10) before seeing Pikeville cut its deficit to 32-15 at halftime. The Trojanettes hit 13-of-29 shot attempts during the first half while the Lady Panthers weren’t as fortunate, finishing 5-of-21 from the floor.

Pikeville was able to heat up in the third quarter with a 7-of-14 shooting effort, but still couldn’t put a dent into Barren County’s lead.

Bertram was able to go 3-of-4 from the floor during the period and score nine points to increase the Torjanettes’ advantage to 51-32 going into the fourth quarter.

The Lady Panthers attempted to make things interesting by opening the period with a 6-0 run, but consecutive baskets with under four minutes remaining by Barren County’s Bailey Pedigo allowed the Trojanettes to secure the win.

———

Barren County (65) — England 6, M. Pedigo 13, Bertram 21, B. Pedigo 18, Bush 2, Rice 1, Ennis 2, Delk 2.

Pikeville (47) — Cole-Williamson 13, Stewart 3, Bartley 9, Tackett 14, Gearheart 8.

———

LEXINGTON —Male punched its ticket into today’s KHSAA Girls’ Sweet 16 quarterfinal round by overpowering Boyd County during its 74-56 win on Thursday.

The Lady Bulldogs were led by double-double efforts by Joelle Johnson and Maya Crimes.

Crimes finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds while Johnson added 13 points and 15 rebounds. Destiny Combs added 19 points and six rebounds for Male while hitting 9-of-12 shot attempts, and Kynidi Striverson scored 11 points.

Male (23-7) shot 24-of-52 from the floor, and outrebounded the Lady Lions, 47-36.

Miss Basketball Savannah Wheeler turned in a game-high 28-point scoring effort for Boyd County, but couldn’t get on track, hitting only 6-of-28 shot attempts. Teammate Harley Paynter added 16 points and seven rebounds on 8-of-18 shooting.

Male asserted itself early by using an 11-0 run to take an 18-9 lead in the first quarter after falling behind, 7-4.

Boyd County’s Wheeler scored the Lady Lions’ first seven points, but the Bulldogs (28-5) were able to hit 8-of-18 shot attempts compared to Boyd County’ 3-of-16 effort. Male’s Destiny Combs scored eight points during the game’s first eight minutes while Joelle Johnson added five points.

The Lady Lions began to cut into the Lady Bulldogs’ lead in the second quarter. Wheeler added six more points, and finished the first half with 13 points while Paynter added eight first-half points to cut Male’s lead to 30-24 at halftime.

The Lady Bulldogs cooled down shooting the ball, finishing with a 12-of-32 shooting effort while Boyd County hit 9-of-39 from the floor, including going 2-of-11 from 3-point range.

The Lady Lions were able to cut the deficit to five points on two different occasions, but still couldn’t make up any ground by the end of the quarter. A basket by Male’s Johnson combined with a free throw by Combs and two free throws by Crimes allowed the Lady Bulldogs to take a 44-36 lead into the fourth quarter.

———

Boyd County (56) — Borders 2, Wheeler 28, Rucker 4, Paynter 16, Opell 2, Biggs 4.

Male (74) — Johnson 13, Combs 19, Crimes 19, K. Striverson 11, A. Striverson 7, Grinter 3, White 2.