Roy Bowling, from 1978-1980, reeled off 74 straight wins at Laurel County, including 3 straight state titles (he has 4 total). That is one record that may never be broken (#2 is Sacred Heart with 42 straight wins from 2003-2004).

 

He has done an excellent job at NL in starting to turn that program around.

 

How long has Coach Bowling been at North? What did he do after his Laurel County days and this stint at North Laurel.

How long has Coach Bowling been at North? What did he do after his Laurel County days and this stint at North Laurel.

 

Here's a little story I did on Bowling and North's success last week. It was in the Times-Tribune sports section.

 

This should answer your question.

 

 

He's still got it

 

By Les Dixon / Sports Editor

 

When hall of fame coach Roy Bowling decided to come out of retirement to coach the North Laurel Lady Jaguar basketball program in 2006, he knew he had his hands full.

 

The Lady Jaguars were coming off a 13-17 campaign, which included a dismal 3-8 record against 13th Region competition.

 

Appearances in the region tournament for North Laurel in years past were few and far between and the Lady Jaguars hadn’t even reached a regional championship game since Rex Fredricks was coach in the early ‘90s.

 

But things are changing at ‘The Jungle.’

 

After going 28-29 during the first two years with Bowling as head coach, North Laurel looks to have turned things around in year three under the legendary coach.

 

The Lady Jaguars are off to their best start in recent memory with an 8-2 overall record and a 3-0 mark against 13th Region teams.

 

Coming into the 2008-09 campaign, Bowling admitted this year’s version of the Lady Jaguars had the talent to be special.

 

“When I first came here, I saw a program that was down and really didn’t know how to win,” he said. “All of the girls’ attitudes have changed toward winning and things are really looking up.

 

“I expected us to be good this year,” Bowling added. “We showed some signs last year, but the flu bug kind of tore us down late in the year. We still showed signs in both the district and region tournaments, too.”

 

Bowling admitted when he took over that the Lady Jaguars basketball program wouldn’t be built overnight.

 

“I knew it was going to take some time,” he said. “I noticed that we had a lot of talent, though.”

 

Bowling compares his experience at North Laurel to when he began the girls basketball program at Laurel County High School during the mid-70s.

 

“Heck, when I first started coaching there, I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “It took us around three years to be successful, but once we reached the state tournament for the first time we really started winning.”

 

Bowling guided the Lady Cardinals to state championships in 1977, 78, 79 and 87.

 

“When I took over here, we had a fairly young team that had the potential to be very good in the future,” Bowling said. “Now they believe they can win and they are starting to show signs of being a very good team.

 

“It was like that at Laurel County, too,” he added. “I just decided to go with a young group of girls and went from there.”

 

Bowling said he thought his team finally showed they can compete with anyone in the 13th Region with the way they have been playing during the past two weeks.

 

North Laurel posted a 2-1 record in the Gateway Classic with wins over both Scott County and Calloway County, but the Lady Jaguars recorded their biggest win of the season after upending cross-town rival South Laurel for the first time since 2000 before beating Jackson County this past Monday.

 

“This has been a tough job,” Bowling admitted. “But I really feel like the program is in good shape for many years to come.”

 

Even though things are looking up for North Laurel, Bowling said he’s still taking things one year at a time.

 

“I’m enjoying this, but time has about ran out on me,” he laughed. “I’m really taking things one year at a time. I’ll re-evaluate things at the end of the year and go from there.”

How long has Coach Bowling been at North? What did he do after his Laurel County days and this stint at North Laurel.

 

He went to Mercy for a few seasons after leaving Laurel County High and then retired for several years. He did start coaching the East Bernstadt Middle School girls team for a few years to stay busy, but just got back into high school a few seasons ago. I am thrilled to see him make a difference at NL. He and his long time assistant and friend Rex Fredericks are excellent coaches who know how to win.