Reed Sheppard, North Laurel set to begin Road to Rupp
Reed Sheppard has a terrific chance to get familiar with the Rupp Arena rims before he even signs up for a college class.
On Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. EST, Sheppard and his North Laurel High School squad will begin its Road to Rupp against Lynn Camp at Corbin Arena. North Laurel enters the 13th Region Tournament as the top overall team and the No. 6 team in the entire state, according to KSR’s High School rankings. The Jaguars, led by head coach Nate Valentine, actually began its postseason journey in the 49th District Tournament last week, but easily won both contests by 29 points and 54 points en route to the district title.
Now the competition will heat up as North Laurel needs three wins to reach the 2022 UK HealthCare Boys’ Sweet 16 State Basketball Tournament for the first time with Sheppard in the fold. First up is the aforementioned Lynn Camp, which holds a 21-11 overall record and a 12-7 mark within the 13th Region. The Wildcats are led by 6-foot-5 junior Micah Engle, who pours in 24.2 points per outing. Gavin Allen (13.4 points per game) and Duane Sparks (11.0 points per game) round out Lynn Camp’s double-digits scorers.
For North Laurel, Sheppard is the obvious engine. The Kentucky Wildcat commit and top 25 player from the class of 2023 leads the Jaguars in scoring with 24.7 points per game while shooting 53.2 percent from the field, 37.1 percent from 3-point range, and 89.4 percent from the charity stripe. Opposing defenses have locked in on him as the focal point, bringing constant double, and sometimes triple teams, throughout the entirety of games. Sheppard handles the pressure quite well and typically finds ways to overcome it, but he can often be asked to do too much. Expect that pressure to amp up even more in the postseason.
Also, make sure to keep an eye on junior Ryan Davidson. The 6-foot-4 wing is cousins with Sheppard and plays the perfect sidekick role as the secondary scorer. He’s up to 20.3 points per outing on an impressive 62.8 percent overall shooting and a 44.4 percent clip from deep. Clay Sizemore is the elite sharpshooter playing alongside Sheppard in the backcourt, knocking in 44.7 percent of his triples and over three of them a game.
Let’s check out the rest of the 13th Region bracket.
South Laurel and Knox Central have already moved on after knocking off Harlan and Jackson County, respectively, on Wednesday night. North Laurel has yet to face Lynn Camp this season, but has matched up against South Laurel and Knox Central, which both resulted in wins. For those that remember last year’s Sweet 16, Knox Central features Gavin Chadwell, a 6-foot-4 sophomore who holds an offer from Mark Stoops to play tight end at Kentucky. He’s not bad on the hardwood, either, averaging 13.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.
North Laurel took down South Laurel with ease back on Dec. 13, winning 70-52 at home behind 31 points from Sheppard. The matchup against Knox Central on Feb. 15 was closer though, as Jaguars snuck away with a 90-86 road victory in the 13th Region Media Network Classic. Sheppard was impressive once again, dropping 37 points while teammate Ryan Davidson added 28 of his own. Chadwell didn’t play in that game, but fifth-year senior guard JeVonte Turner did drop in 34 points for Knox Central.
Taking a look back at North Laurel’s season, the Jaguars have smacked the teams it’s supposed to beat, but struggled to overcome the state’s best units. North Laurel is 25-5 on the year, but all five losses have come against teams ranked among the top 12 in KSR’s High School rankings. No. 4 Covington Catholic has beaten North Laurel twice, while No. 1 George Rogers Clark, No. 2 Ballard, and T-No. 12 Greenwood all knocked the Jags off once.
That being said, North Laurel does hold victories over several ranked opponents in No. 8 Lexington Catholic, T-No. 12 Pulaski County, No. 15 Pleasure Ridge Park, No. 23 Madison Central, and one of the top-ranked schools from South Carolina, Dorman. In total, North Laurel went 4-5 against teams in the current KSR Top 25 High School rankings, plus the notable, out-of-state win over Dorman. But more important for the immediate future is its 12-0 record against schools from the 13th Region this season.
For those looking to tune in and watch, you can do so by joining the 13th Region Media Network page on Facebook. The game will also be streamed live on the WYMT station through the VUIT app.
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