North is young, but good

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February 8, 2010

Anonymous The Times-Tribune Mon Feb 08, 2010, 10:54 AM EST

By Les Dixon / Sports Editor

This season marks the 40th year Roy Bowling has been coaching, and the coaching legend who guided the Laurel County Lady Cardinals to four state championships might be doing his best coaching job this year at North Laurel High School.

The Lady Jaguars are young, but they are good.

North Laurel’s 14-5 record puts this year’s version of the Lady Jaguars on pace to have the most wins since Bowling’s assistant coach, Rex Fredericks, was guiding them to consecutive 12th Region title game appearances in the early ‘90s.

“We are a good team,” Bowling said. “I really thought that when we first started practicing. We are young, but we are also good.

“The big thing about this team is they want to be a team,” he added. “They are very talented, but they are just going to get even better.”

North Laurel has shown the potential of just how good it can be by knocking off cross-town rival South Laurel this past week, 50-46. Wins against the Lady Cardinals have been few-and-far between, but that was before Bowling took over four years ago as head coach of the Lady Jaguars.

North Laurel’s 16-win effort last season was the most a Lady Jaguar team has had since going 15-13 during Bowling’s first season and again in 1999 when Rachel Gaynor was head coach.

“It comes down to the girls,” Bowling said. “They are really great to coach and they really want to win. They also want to get better, too.

“We’ve had some struggles, but I really thought we have played well against the other teams in the 13th Region.”

North Laurel had defending 13th Region champion, and this year’s favorite Clay County, on the ropes in Manchester a couple of weeks ago before Clay County won in overtime.

“We’re still grasping some things, but we’re also learning a lot,” Bowling said. “Every girl on this team has a great attitude and if they continue to be like that, I really believe we can accomplish some things.”

One of he main reasons the Lady Jaguars have been successful is the addition of sophomore Tamara Crawford.

Crawford, a transfer from Leslie County, is one of the top leading scorers in the region with a 15.4 points per game scoring average. The scary thing about her is the fact Bowling says she’s going to get even better.

“She is still getting used to our system and the other girls,” he said. “She comes from a different type of system than we run, but she is doing a really good job. She’s got a lot of talent and she’s a very good player that’s going to be a super player before she leaves here.”

Bowling joked that coaching for 40 years means that he is “ancient”, but he also admitted the youthfulness and success of this year’s team has made him feel younger.

“It sure has,” he said. “If I continue to feel this way, I believe I’ll be here more than a couple of more years. It’s still a year-to-year thing with me, but I plan on being back next season. As long as my health stays good, I plan to be back.”

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