Les Dixon, Sports Editor
The Times-Tribune
CORBIN — When it comes to the North Laurel/South Laurel rivalry, there’s no question the Cardinals have dominated the series.
South Laurel leads the overall series 43-7 and owns a perfect 3-0 mark when it comes to region tournament play, but the Jaguars hope to turn things around today during the two teams’ 51st meeting.
“Even though it’s a regional semifinal game, it still makes a difference that we’re playing South Laurel,” North Laurel coach Jim Conway said. “The rivalry has been so lopsided and I’m sure it plays a part mentally, but our guys hope to change that this time around.”
When it comes to beating South Laurel, North Laurel seems to struggle. The last time the Jaguars defeated their cross-town rivals was back on Dec. 7, 2007.
Before that win, the Cardinals reeled off 11 straight victories against North Laurel.
“I really don’t think it’s an issue that we’re playing them,” South Laurel coach Steve Wright said. “When you reach the regional semifinals, I think overall, teams are going to do what got them this far. You’re going to play to your strengths and go from there.”
Conway’s Jaguars have come a long way since starting the season with an 0-6 record. North Laurel is 15-11 since and the Jaguars are only two wins away from advancing to their first trip to the Sweet Sixteen.
“The kids could have folded a long time ago, but they didn’t,” Conway said. “They persevered and I am very proud of them for doing that.”
North Laurel advanced to the semifinals by knocking off Harlan County, 58-51, while South Laurel needed a free throw by Matt St. John with three seconds remaining to beat Knox Central, 54-53.
“It was a tough game, but you survive and advance,” Wright said. “When you get to this point of the postseason, you just want to do whatever you can to reach the regional finals. There is only two teams that can play for a regional championship and I hope we’re one of them.”
Wright said for his team to beat North Laurel, the Cardinals must have a balanced offensive attack and contain Adrian Wardrup.
“Wardrup has shown he is a very good player,” he said. “He’s hard to stop no matter who they are playing. We’ve got to figure out a way from keeping him taking over the game.”
South Laurel is 2-0 against the Jaguars this season and Conway said his team needs to focus on defense.
“When we played them this season they have used a run to either get back into the game or broaden their lead,” he said. “We’ve got to keep them from doing that. The other big key is that we can’t have scoring droughts. We did that against Harlan County and we need to refrain from doing that in this game.
“We’ve gotten this far, so we’re going to try to see what we can do to them on Saturday,” Conway added.
