North Laurel had prepared for George Rogers Clark’s pressure and its press.
But preparing for the Cardinals and facing them in the first round of the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Girls’ Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena was a different beast altogether.
George Rogers Clark had 20 steals and forced 30 Jaguars turnovers on the way to their 55-46 victory on Thursday night.
“Tonight we had way too many turnovers to probably be successful,” said Jaguars Coach Eddie Mahan, whose team had 12 miscues in the fourth quarter when the Cardinals were able to pull away. “I thought our defense was good enough to win.”
George Rogers Clark (30-2) scored 29 of its 55 points off North Laurel turnovers. They only shot 35% from the field, including 1-for-11 from 3-point ra
nge for the game, so they got their points off their pressure.
Teigh Yeast led the Cardinals with 14 points, all in the second half. The possibility that it could’ve been her last game in a Clark County jersey drove her to finish strong.
“If I wanted to get the win, I knew I was going to have to come out and do something big,” said Yeast, who added six rebounds and five steals.
The idea that it might be his team’s last game of the season was a harsh halftime reminder when the Cardinals trailed 25-22. Their 20-game win streak and a chance at a state title hung in the balance.
“We can’t beat anybody when you’re a donut,” Coach Robbie Graham said he told his team. “We challenged them at halftime to step up. Don’t let your last game end like this.”
George Rogers Clark had bigger goals when they arrived at Rupp Arena after losing to five-time champion Sacred Heart in the championship game.
North Laurel (25-7) led by as many as five points in the second quarter behind post star Mariella Claybrook. “I knew the opportunities were going to be there for me, and they had to double, and they did tonight.”
Claybrook had a dominant performance with game bests of 28 points and 16 rebounds, including 13 on the defensive end.
“She’s definitely something to look out for in the paint,” Cards guard Kennedy Stamper said. “I was kind of … looking to double team and going over there to help out.”
There have been many bumps in the road for Clark County this season.
“They have overcome a lot of adversity, January where we didn’t play extremely well,” Mahan said, noting one of their worst losses in the last decade happened in that span, a 61-56 loss to Assumption. “You could have easily seen that team fold at that point in time, that time period right there they stepped up and that is on them.”
