North Laurel boys basketball reaching unprecedented territory led by sophomore standouts
LONDON, Ky. (BVM) — The North Laurel boys basketball team has become the talk of the state of Kentucky and it’s not very hard to see why. Currently boasting an unbeaten record at 18-0, the Jaguars are off to the best start in program history.
“It’s been great, obviously I’ve never been 18-0 before on any team,” Head coach Nate Valentine said. “We’ve got a really good group of guys that are really unselfish and they play the right way. … They feel like they can beat anyone right now and that’s kind of the mindset they’ve had from the beginning.”
Much of the success is thanks in large part to a pair of sophomores who have broken out over their second campaigns on the team.
The headliner for the Jaguars is sophomore guard Reed Sheppard, son of two Kentucky Wildcats legends Jeff Sheppard and Stacey Reed Sheppard (then Stacey Reed). Jeff was a part of two Wildcats national championship-winning teams in 1996 and 1998 while Stacey still sits at No. 13 in career points in Wildcats women’s basketball history. Reed has clearly benefited from the genetics of his parents, especially on the basketball court.
“[Reed] is a tremendous talent, definitely a Division I kid,” Valentine said. “He’s a terrific kid. He’s extremely humble. I tell people a lot of times that you might find somebody who is a faster than him or maybe more skilled, but in terms of the total package, having the mindset he has, the unselfishness he has, in conjunction with his ability on the court, I don’t know if you’ll be able to find a better guy to be leading your team at any level.”
It’s not as if this season was the first glimpse of Reed’s potential greatness. As a freshman last season, Reed posted a rare quadruple-double when he recorded 24 points, 10 rebounds, 14 assists, and 10 steals in an 82-34 victory over Jackson County. This season has been more of an encore than anything and he has lived up to the hype, recording a career-best 54 points against Corbin in a triple-double performance while also breaking the North Laurel school record in assists with 17 against Harlan County on Feb. 9. He also currently leads the Kentucky High School Athletic Association in points per game with 33.1.
“He just has tremendous court vision and speed and he puts so much pressure on the defense and our other guys really shoot it well,” Valentine said. “He’s fine with scoring 14 and having 16 or 17 assists which he’s done. I think he’s had 15 assists four times this year.”
Reed’s running mate, sophomore forward Ryan Davidson, has been almost equally impressive for the Jaguars. Coming off of a freshman season that saw him earn the KHSAA 13th Region Newcomer of the Year award, Davidson has given the Jaguars a strong interior presence while also altering the game with an ability to score from nearly anywhere on the court including being able to dunk the ball at the rim.
“Sometimes [Davidson] gets a little overshadowed by Reed,” Valentine said. “Ryan is very athletic as well. He runs the floor great. He can rebound the ball well. But, he finishes everything around the basket, he’s shooting nearly 70% from the field and he continues to get better.”
While the two sophomores may be the biggest reasons why North Laurel is doing as well as they are, the Jaguars have a cohesive unit composed of experienced veterans to balance out the sophomores youthful energy.
“That’s what we constantly try to remind people that this team has more guys than Reed Sheppard,” Valentine said. “Mostly we’re relying on sophomores and juniors with what we’re doing.”
This has helped the Jaguars offense become one of the most, if not the most, potent offenses in the KHSAA. Averaging a state-best 90.8 points, it has been hard for opponents to keep up as the Jaguars have beaten opponents by an average of 20.7 points, good for the sixth best margin in the state. The team also boasts the best field goal percentage and free throw percentage in the KHSAA and the second best 3-point field goal percentage as well.
“They pass it really well and they’ve played together since second grade so they have a great feel for where everybody is,” Valentine said. “They really feed off each other.”
Brothers since day 1! @Clay_Sizemore_ @turner_buttry @wyatthensley_ @reed_sheppard @CadenHa06709581 pic.twitter.com/MHwWok5ex9
— Ryan Davidson (@Ryan_davidson24) March 1, 2021
This success has earned the team a significant amount of attention from the media as well, including from Sports Illustrated writer Pat Forde who recently covered the team during a game.
“That was a great experience,” Valentine said. “I was afraid to tell our guys before the game because I didn’t know how they’d react so I waited until we built about a 25-point lead in the first quarter and then I told them all and we didn’t score for about two or three minutes … Probably a once in a lifetime chance to be in a Sports Illustrated article.”
We appreciate @ByPatForde stopping by this evening to catch some @NorthLaurelBB action! #gojags #jaguarnation pic.twitter.com/6AqnFd62sp
— NLHS Athletics (@athletics_nlhs) February 20, 2021
The ultimate goal for the Jaguars would be to not only win the District 49 title, which they’ve won two of the past three seasons, but also to win the Region 13 championship which the program has only done once in its history.
“We just really want to be playing our best basketball as we head into the tournament and go as deep as we can with the great group of guys that we have,” Valentine said. “I think it’s every kid and every coach’s dream in Kentucky to play in the Sweet Sixteen and have a chance to win in the Sweet Sixteen. It means a lot to our program, to our fans, everyone here at this school. It would be a great storybook ending.”
Of course, the outside chance of becoming the first unbeaten state champion in the state since 1948 has come into the conversation with the performance of the team, but Valentine has worked hard to keep the boys focused on the task at hand which is winning the next game each week.
“I know it’s cliché but we just try to go 1-0 every game out,” Valentine said. “We’ve done a nice job staying one game at a time to this point.”
The season will come to a head when the Jaguars face the Lexington Catholic Knights on March 6. With the Knights being a fellow undefeated team left in the state, the matchup is seen as a potential precursor for the state championship game. As fans across the state circle the matchup on their calendars, Valentine is focused on keeping the boys level headed prior to any of their matchups.
“There’s really no time to look ahead,” Valentine said. “We have senior night coming in here and then we play a very good Ashland team that went undefeated last year and has most of their guys back so there’s not a lot of time to sit and admire what we’ve done this year and get ahead of ourselves. We’ll just keep going one game at a time. Today at 4:30 when these guys come in we will lift weights and practice just like we have all year long.”
While Kentucky fans may have to wait to see history be broken, the Jaguars are just continuing to grind out wins as best they can. With Reed and Davidson leading the way, North Laurel is a team no other high school in Kentucky wants to see come playoff time.
