May 16, 2008 11:05 am
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By Les Dixon
Sports Editor
Shane Weaver’s North Laurel Lady Jaguars look to finish the regular season with a bang.
No. 2 ranked North Laurel enters today’s match-up with No. 3 Ryle with a 16-game win streak.
The last time the Lady Jaguars (26-6) dropped a game was on April 19 against Louisville Mercy.
Weaver knows today’s match-up with the Lady Raiders isn’t going to be an easy one, along with his team’s match-up on Saturday against No. 11 Anderson County and No. 17 Heath in the “Thrill in the ‘Ville”.
“I feel like the most important thing we can get from the Ryle game is seeing another strong opponent,” Weaver said. “It goes back to the numbing process. If we get back into seeing top teams this last weekend (in the regular season), we will have absolutely no reason to feel post-season pressure.”
Weaver also acknowledged that a loss to Ryle could turn out to be a positive, too.
“I can promise that a loss won’t be a negative with this group,” he said. “They will want to face them again, which would be at the state tournament in the semi-finals, which in turn would be more fire in the belly to go through the region with.
“Conversely, a win doesn’t make us cocky either, but it does give us back the rhythm and confidence we left off with after the Lowe’s Classic,” he added.
Another positive that could come out after the weekend is if Weaver’s team goes 3-0 (and beats Southwestern Thursday), the Lady Jaguars could finish the regular season with 30 wins.
With the schedule the Lady Jaguars have faced (6-3 against Top 25 teams and 3-1 against out of state Top 25 teams), Weaver said he is surprised his team has the opportunity to win 30 games in the regular season.
“Winning 30 (games) in the regular season would not have ever entered my mind when I thought about how I was going to schedule when we left last year’s state tournament,” Weaver said. “It would be a true testament to how far this group has come in a year’s time, both skillfully and mentally.”
North Laurel’s post-season play begins Tuesday against the winner of Clay County and Jackson County in the finals of the 49th District Tournament.
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