North Laurel used smothering defensive pressure and balanced scoring Friday night at Corbin Arena to pin a 61-35 loss on Bell County in the semifinals of the 13th Region Tournament.
The Lady Jaguars scored 21 first-half points following 10 turnovers by Bell County to build a 40-15 lead by halftime, and cruised to the lopsided victory.
With the win, North Laurel advances to Saturday’s championship game against rival South Laurel, which defeated Knox Central, 56-31 in the first semifinal. North Laurel will be playing for its fourth consecutive 13th Region championship.
North Laurel junior Mariella Claybrook – the 13th Region Player of the Year – scored her team’s first seven points, including a long 3-pointer, to stake her team to an early lead.
A pair of free throws by Bell County senior Kairi Lamb sandwiched around a putback basket by freshman Bristal Jordan cut the North Laurel lead to 9-6, but the Lady Jaguars reeled off a 10-2 scoring spurt down the stretch and led, 19-8 after eight minutes.
Four Lady Jaguars scored during an 11-0 run to open the second quarter, and Bell County was held scoreless until a three-point play by Lamb with 3:36 remaining until halftime snapped the drought by the Lady Cats.
Bell County converted just two floor shots during the second quarter and were outscored by a 10-4 margin during the final three minutes to create an insurmountable deficit.
Jordan knocked down a pair of triples for Bell County during the third quarter and the Lady Cats opened the stanza with a 14-2 scoring run that was simply too little, too late. Bell County trailed, 46-29 heading into the final eight minutes.
Three steals by North Laurel senior Haley Combs helped fuel a 13-2 scoring run during the final quarter to secure the team’s 11th consecutive win and a third matchup this season with South Laurel. The two teams split a pair of regular season games.
“North Laurel has a very good basketball team; we dug ourselves a hole early, and against a team like them it’s hard to recover,” veteran Bell County coach David Teague said. “I was very proud of the way our kids battled the entire game and thought we did a lot of good things in the second half, especially in the third quarter.”
North Laurel (24-6) got a co-team-high 14 points from Claybrook and Combs, while sophomore Bella Lewis and eighth-grader Laylee Phillips each scored 10 points for the Lady Cardinals. Claybrook grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, while Combs added six steals and six assists.
Lamb put the finishing touches on her stellar high school career with a game-high 15 points and eight rebounds. Jordan added 10 points for the Lady Cats. Bell County finished its season with an overall record of 23-8. Lamb, along with departing seniors Olivia Brown and Neveah Allen, received high praise from Teague.
“I am very proud of our three seniors, Kairi, Olivia and Neveah,” Teague said. “It was a pleasure to coach them throughout their careers and I know that each one of them will be very successful in the future.”
In the first semifinal, No. 1-seeded South Laurel controlled things from start to finish to advance to the championship game for a second straight year.
South led 16-8 after one quarter and took a 28-20 lead into the locker room at halftime. Knox Central was unable to close the gap to any fewer than six points during the third quarter, and trailed 39-29 heading into the final eight minutes.
The Lady Cardinals blew things wide open by scoring 11 unanswered points to open the fourth quarter to secure their second consecutive trip to the 13th Region title game.
South Laurel (26-6) won its 10th straight game with a balanced scoring attack that was led by junior Maci Messer with 18 points. Junior Skeeter Mabe scored 10 points for the Lady Cardinals.
Knox Central finished its season with an overall record of 24-6. Junior guard Shelbie Mills scored a team-high eight points — 15 points below her season average — to lead the Lady Panthers.
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North Laurel (61) – Mariella Claybrook 14, Haley Combs 14, Bella Lewis 10, Laylee Phillips 10, Bella Mahan 8, Emma Carl 0, Ella Hubbard 5, Molly Morgan 0.
Bell County (35) — Kairi Lamb 15, Nevaeh Allen 6, Lyla Scearse 0, Aubree Miracle 0, Bristal Jordan 10, Brylee Redmond 2, Mattie Hatfield 0, Olivia Brown 0, Gracie Partin 0, Jaelynn Reeder 2.

North Laurel 19 21 6 15 – 61
Bell County 8 7 14 6 – 35

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South Laurel (56) – Ryleigh Bretz 5, Maci Messer 18, McKenzie Fannin 9, Aubrey Bundy 3, Callie Jones 7, Shelby Smith 4, Skeeter Mabe 10.
Knox Central (31) – Kay Gambrel-Garrison 3, Shelbie Mills 8, Charis Frederick 2, Kaylynn Smith 5, Shelbi Smith 4, Kylie Smith 4, McKenzie Hensley 5.

South Laurel 16 12 11 17 – 56
Knox Central 8 12 9 2 – 31