Final from North Laurel.

 

To say this was a disappointing year for North Laurel would be a bit of an understatement.

Zach Lawson and Jacob Hammonds had 28 each for Jackson County. Two seniors who didn't want to go out tonight.

Not a huge upset based on the regular season; still something of a surprise.

North Laurel just wasn't any good all year. At some point you have to live up to the hype. This team is allegedly full of D1 talent, but have under a .500 record and can't get past the first round of district play.

Zach Lawson and Jacob Hammonds had 28 each for Jackson County. Two seniors who didn't want to go out tonight.

 

I saw Jackson County play very early in the season. They don't have a ton of size, but they have terrific guard play and several kids that can score. Not surprised that they pulled this one out. I really liked their team.

I saw Jackson County play very early in the season. They don't have a ton of size, but they have terrific guard play and several kids that can score. Not surprised that they pulled this one out. I really liked their team.

 

I think Coach Parrett is really good in a lot of respects, one of them being the way he develops players, especially in terms of molding them through their careers. Really good at development as well as the strength and conditioning aspects.

 

Jackson County isn't a huge school at all, but he's won a lot of games there and it makes you wonder what he'd be able to do if they had a larger pool of kids to draw from. Same goes for Coach Hayes.

 

Some really good Jackson County teams over the years that were just a few players or athletes away from possibly being a regional champion (got to a regional final once in the 90's and had some really good teams when in the same district with Clay Co and Rockcastle). Kind of the curse of the small school I guess.

I think Coach Parrett is really good in a lot of respects, one of them being the way he develops players, especially in terms of molding them through their careers. Really good at development as well as the strength and conditioning aspects.

 

Jackson County isn't a huge school at all, but he's won a lot of games there and it makes you wonder what he'd be able to do if they had a larger pool of kids to draw from. Same goes for Coach Hayes.

 

Some really good Jackson County teams over the years that were just a few players or athletes away from possibly being a regional champion (got to a regional final once in the 90's and had some really good teams when in the same district with Clay Co and Rockcastle). Kind of the curse of the small school I guess.

 

Jackson County is much smaller than the Laurel schools and Clay, but they're not small in the sense of what I would consider a small school. They have around 600 students 9-12. That's about the size of Lee and Owsley County schools combined.

Jackson County is much smaller than the Laurel schools and Clay, but they're not small in the sense of what I would consider a small school. They have around 600 students 9-12. That's about the size of Lee and Owsley County schools combined.

 

Fair assessment. Combine the talent that Jackson County and Owsley County, each of those schools had at one point in the very early 2000's, and that would have been quite a team as well.

 

Clay County's enrollment isn't what it once was. I'd imagine they trail Whitley County, North Laurel, and South Laurel and are closer in enrollment to a Knox Central or Bell County now, especially if you are looking at the numbers at the end of the year.

 

The schools just don't have the populations that they used to, and it's basically inevitable that some of the elementary schools (well, the two that haven't already) are going to contract. It doesn't look like that trend will be changing any time soon either.

Do the North Laurel kid stay or do they start transferring to other schools? They have a ton of talent and can't seem to win. You have to believe some of these kids are wanting to win.