1-25-12 —    The Wayne County Cardinals played North Laurel on Saturday, January  

14 in a contest that was hosted by Monticello High School. The  

Cardinals were coming off a tough 2-point loss the night before to  

Knox Central, while North Laurel was coming off a loss to Bell County.

    The game marked the 10th meeting between the two schools with Wayne  

County leading the series with a 6-4 record. The two teams last met  

on February 18, 2005, when North Laurel won 67-47.

    The Cards battled wire to wire in this contest, and eighth grader  

Corey Stearns came up big for Wayne County as he scored a game-high  

31 points in their 90-81 win.

    "A big fourth quarter for Corey Stearns, scoring 19 of his 31 points  

in that quarter," said Wayne County Coach Rodney Woods.

    "It was a really good effort today after losing two straight and not  

having a day to prepare," Woods said. "We battled all the way and  

certainly our depth played a big role in this game, playing 10  

players in the first half."

    The Cardinals led 22-19 at the end of the first quarter, but North  

Laurel had claimed a 42-40 edge by halftime.

    The Jaguars were up 62-58 at the end of the third quarter. But the  

Cards scored 32 points in the final quarter to take the win.

    Three other Cardinals finished in double figures. Trey Blevins  

scored 15 points and led Wayne County in assists with 5. Peyton Woods  

scored 14 points and Kyle Ghering added 12 in the win.

    Jason Perkins led the Cardinals in steals with 4. Dagan Shelton led  

the team in rebounding with 6.

    Wayne County hit 27 of 65 from the field for 41 percent. They were  

11 of 25 on 3-pointers for 44 percent and hit 25 of 35 from the free  

throw line for 71 percent.

    North Laurel was led in scoring by Marcus Carson with 21 points.  

Kendrick Henson added 18 points.

    The Jaguars hit 28 of 59 from the field for 47 percent. They were 3  

of 8 from  beyond the arc for 37 percent and hit 16 of 23 from the  

free throw line for 69 percent.

    North Laurel won the battle on the boards 34-20. Wayne County had 15  

turnovers compared to 23 for North Laurel.

    With the win Wayne County improved to 12-7 on the season.

    "We need to get everyone healthy for the month of February to start  

the stretch run," said Woods.

    Next up for Wayne County was a Tuesday night contest at home against  

Rockcastle County. See a related story in this edition for game details.