Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By John Henson
Sports Writer
LEXINGTON — Though neither were expected to make it to Rupp Arena for this year’s Sweet Sixteen, the North Laurel Jaguars and Breathitt County Bobcats both looked very much like they belonged Thursday in a first-round showdown that went to the wire.
North Laurel (23-10) survived with a 54-53 win thanks to another monster performance from junior forward Reece Davidson, who poured in 36 points on a 13-of-24 performance that was reminiscent of his run through 13th Region heavyweights Corbin, Harlan County and South Laurel.
After first-round exits in 2022 and 2023 when they were led by Mr. Basketball and current NBA player Reed Sheppard, the Jaguars made history with the win over Breathitt to mark the first state tournament victory in the 35-year history of North Laurel.
“This group just keeps fighting. We survived two overtime games to get here. I will go to war with these guys any day,” North Laurel coach Nate Valentine said. “These guys just keep fighting, even if it’s not always pretty.”
Down six at halftime, Breathitt County opened the second half with a 7-0 run to take the lead. North rallied with a 3 from Cooper Elza and steal and dunk from Davidson to go back up by five, but Breathitt star Austin Sperry had a three-point play and 3-pointer in an 8-1 run to close the period that gave the Bobcats a 42-40 lead.
Sperry, the 14th Region’s top player and an all-stater last year, scored 22 points to lead the Bobcats, who upset Hazard in the regional finals.
The lead changed hands several times in the fourth quarter with Sperry’s 3 putting Breathitt ahead 53-51 with 2:05 left. Davidson hit one of two at the line with 28.3 seconds left to cut the deficit to one.
Breathitt had the ball and the lead but turned it over on a bad pass with 11.7 seconds to play. Davidson drew Sperry’s fifth foul on a drive with 4.6 seconds left and this time hit both shots for the lead.
Breathitt called a timeout with 2.9 seconds left to set up the final shot, but Davidson stepped in front of a pass to seal the victory.
North Laurel will play Montgomery County on Friday at 6 in the quarterfinals.
———
North Laurel (54) — Cooper Elza 9, Jordan Rawlings 4, Kole Jervis 3, Reece Davidson 36, R.J. Noble 2, Corey Cunagin 0, Cam Anderson 0.
Breathitt County (53) — Payton Collins 5, Braxton Terry 14, Austin Sperry 22, Canaan Gross 2, Joseph Honeycutt 6, Aaron Stallard 4, Brantlee Campbell 0.

Breathitt County 12 12 18 11 — 53
North Laurel 12 18 10 14 — 54