[Cactus Jack]

North Laurel had a really good JV group last year. I know they've lost Chadwell and Rawlings, but Chadwell didn't play JV either. I've thought that they are better than many may perceive them. Tough early schedule of return games for a young team can make things look worse than they are.

I've seen them three separate times, and I think Clay County will be fine. They've had games where they've played well and others where they weren't at their best, but they're improving and aren't near their ceiling yet. This is coming from someone who watched four games this week without seeing the same team twice.

It's Harlan County and then everyone else right now. Not saying that Corbin and South Laurel aren't right after them, or that a number of teams can't beat one another on a given night though.

Last year Harlan got beat by Harlan County then came dangerously close to beating North Laurel. Harlan County got knocked off by Corbin, who'd just lost to South Laurel. Then North Laurel beat Corbin pretty badly in the region final-- March can be a strange time, and there's plenty of basketball to be played between now and then.