Karr played at South Alabama. Played against both of them in high school. We were in the same district.

 

:thumb: You are correct. My mistake on where 'Jumpin Joe' played in college. I still see him from time to time. His daughter is a very good player as well!

I was sitting in the end zone. Told my buddy that Laurel sure did play these guys tough. Then Andrews throws it in. Cold chills...it was something you will never forget.

Didn't he also make a half court shot to beat Pulaski in the region finals?

 

:fight:

I'm not sure about that, but I remember that Somerset beat the Cards a year later in the district tournament.

Paul was a friend and classmate of mine from 7th grade thru our senior year. A terrific guy. I remember not being able to make the morning session and hearing him make FT's against Todd May's Virgie squad to propel the Cardinals into the championship game they weren't supposed to be in. It was supposed to be North Hardin vs Virgie. But the undersized Cardinals with a 6'4" center (Teel Bruner) who couldn't jump, 2 D1 players (Andrews at UK and Karr at UAB) on that roster, they were better than most outside of Laurel County realized. And they were a TEAM.

 

Paul's shot was amazing. I have never heard Rupp Arena grow so silent during the flight of the ball. When Paul stole the inbounds pass with 2.1 seconds to go at midcourt, dribbled and let the shot go, it was almost a stunned silence which fell over the capacity crowd. I was in the end zone on the side behind the goal where he hit the shot. We immediately stormed towards the floor and was met by several security guards. A football buddy and I saw that Paul's dad Richard Andrews could not get onto the floor to congratulate Paul. My buddy and I took out the security guard who would not let Richard on the floor so he could get there. We didn't hurt him, just made a space for Richard to get thru. Richard got to Paul and when we explained to the guard why we did it, he let us go without any other issues.

 

Laurel County High School no longer exists, but it is one of those memories I will never forget for as long as I live. Paul made a lot of big shots in his HS career, was runner up for Mr Basketball to another Cat, Winston Bennett, but this is the thing he will always be remembered for the most. :thumb:

I don't agree with you that "Laurel County High School no longer exists".

 

It's the same facility, same gym, same location, same mascot name. The only thing that has happened is that some of their students were pulled out to attend the new school, North Laurel, and the word 'South' was added to their name...but it's still the same school.

 

IMO the Cardinals now have TWO state championships.

I totally disagree.

Then North Laurel should be credited a lot of the girls state championships because the majority of the girls that played on those teams lived on the north side of town.

Look in the KHSAA state tournament yearbook and it will show you that Laurel County has ONE state title and South has ONE.

Doesn't matter if you play in the same gym or not...the school no longer exists.

It's not even the same school colors.

South is black red and white, and Laurel was grey, red and white.

I also forgot HAZEL Green has one, too.

Laurel County should ahve done what Pulaski County did and remained Laurel County High School instead of South Laurel.

I recently read an artical in the HL about the Half court Shot by Paul Andrews that lifted Laurel County to the state Championship 53-51. I was just wondering if anyone remembers the shot and if anyone witnessed it live. I thought it was interesting.

 

"The memory of Andrews flat on his back, and the dazed look on his face, beig mobbed by his teammates, is still Crystal Clear."

-Mike Fields-Hearld Leader Staff Writer

 

I'd like to hear you comments and thoughts, thanks.

 

 

I remember it well. I was seated in the end zone about four rows up. Oddly enough, North Hardin had already beat Laurel County in the LIT by about 10 points earlier in the year. NH Coach, Ron Bevars, set up the same exact play in the final seconds of regulation in the state championship game as he did in the LIT championship game, not expecting Andrews' "Hail, Mary" shot to go in - but it did this time. It was like an eternity watching that ball head for the basket with the red light on. There are still NH fans today who have the game on VHS and believe that the basket should not have counted. Either way, it was an unforgettable moment in Kentucky high school basketball.

North Hardin had an unbelievable team in '82, but its '81 team was even better. Three of its starting five went Div 1: James Jeter, UL; Robbie Valentine, UL; and Brett Burrow, Vandy. And the other players went to reputable Div II schools. NH's record for '81-'82 was 37 wins and only 3 losses - the maximum games that could have been possibly played when you account for the state tournament games. The two losses during the season occurred when its 6'11" center, Brett Burrow, was out sick.

NH has not seen that kind of excitement in basketball since then. Its gym was always filled to capacity, and then some, plus closed-circuit tv provided for the overflow crowd in the cafeteria for home games. And many times on the road, North had more fans than the home team in the bleachers. Maybe one day we'll return to the "glory days!"

I also forgot HAZEL Green has one, too.

Laurel County should ahve done what Pulaski County did and remained Laurel County High School instead of South Laurel.

 

I wish Pulaski had done like the Laurels. It isn't the same school now it doesn't represent all of Pulaski I think it should be changed to just Pulaski and drop the county.

 

:fight:

I don't agree with you that "Laurel County High School no longer exists".

 

It's the same facility, same gym, same location, same mascot name. The only thing that has happened is that some of their students were pulled out to attend the new school, North Laurel, and the word 'South' was added to their name...but it's still the same school.

 

IMO the Cardinals now have TWO state championships.

 

We will have to disagree on this one. Nearly all the banners and school records were wiped out and started over after the split from nearly every sport. However, later, South Laurel did put the 4 or 5 Laurel County girls state championship banners and the 1 boys state championship banner back up in the gym. For example, there are still track and field records, football records, etc from Laurel County high school that have never been broken by either North or South Laurel, yet those records were wiped away from the history of the original school as if they never happened. The same happened when they merged the 4 area high schools into one in 1970. The records were pretty much ignored from London, Hazel Green, Lily and Bush High Schools when they new merged HS was created.

 

It is in the same building, but the split created 2 different schools by design. I agree with Les that I really wish they would have left it as Laurel County High School and just added North Laurel as a new school and left it alone. Even if they felt the need to change the name to South Laurel, how about keeping the history from all the sports, and not just the basketball titles. As a graduate of Laurel County High School and former student athlete there, I felt slighted by this denial of entire sports history. The school had a very solid history of student athletes before the split that except for the state titles, seems to have been totally disregarded.

 

But back on topic, ... the memory of Paul's shot and the joy a state title brings is one of my favorites from my time at Laurel County High School! I was thrilled that the South Laurel Cardinals brought another one back to the county in 2004-2005 and would love to see another one in 2006-2007! :thumb:

I was sitting in the lower arena corner. The place was insane when he hit that shot. I was 8 years old and it was the first many Sweet Sixteens with my Grandfather. I remember the first round game when Todd May and Brett Burrow went at it. THAT was my first Sweet Sixteen game.

I recently read an artical in the HL about the Half court Shot by Paul Andrews that lifted Laurel County to the state Championship 53-51. I was just wondering if anyone remembers the shot and if anyone witnessed it live. I thought it was interesting.

 

"The memory of Andrews flat on his back, and the dazed look on his face, beig mobbed by his teammates, is still Crystal Clear."

-Mike Fields-Hearld Leader Staff Writer

 

I'd like to hear you comments and thoughts, thanks.

 

 

I wasn't at this game but I remember seeing the highlight of it on ESPN. This was my senior year and North Hardin was the prohibitive favorite for the entire season to win it all. We at Ashland played N. Hardin twice this year losing the first in the King of the Bluegrass tourney in Louisville by a point or two after leading the entire game and also losing to them in the finals of the Ashland Inv. Tourn. by 8 points. It was an excitiing season many years ago.