Cayden Reed's 29 points lead Montgomery County to Sweet 16 semifinals

In what was one of the more exciting state tournament games you’ll see this week, it was Montgomery County that narrowly came out on top.

On Friday night in Rupp Arena, Cayden Reed poured in 29 points for No. 15 Montgomery County as the Indians took down North Laurel 69-66 in the quarterfinals of the UK HealthCare Boys Basketball Sweet 16. Reed, who chipped in six assists and four rebounds to his stat line, was aided by 17 points from Luke Fawns (5-10 3PT) and 14 more from Tyce Jarvis. North Laurel’s Reece Davidson was excellent with a game-high 41 points (16-22 FG), but the Jaguars didn’t have another scorer hit double-digits.

“Credit first of all goes to North Laurel. (Head coach) Nate Valentine had those guys ready to go. And Jiminy Christmas, that kid (Davidson) can play,” Montgomery County head coach Jason Mays said postgame. “He’s a beast. Film doesn’t do him justice. Reece Davidson is a heck of a player.”

After Montgomery County set the Sweet 16 three-point record with 16 makes on Thursday, the Indians finished 10-25 from deep less than 24 hours later. MoCo forced North Laurel in 19 turnovers, which was flipped into 18 points on the other end of the floor.

The Jaguars, which shot 60.9 percent as a team, actually won the rebounding battle 30-20 (Davidson had 10 of his own to reach his double-double) and scored 18 more points in the paint, but a bevy of threes from Montgomery County proved too much to overcome.

With the win, MoCo advances to Saturday’s semifinal matchup, which is set for 1:30 p.m. ET back inside Rupp Arena. The Indians will face the winner of No. 2 Great Crossing and No. 11 Cooper.

Game Recap

With Montgomery County struggling to score out of the gate, Reece Davidson put the first points on the board with a three-pointer as North Laurel jumped out to a 7-0 lead. The Indians missed its first six shots before Luke Fawns got rolling with his first of several triples. Offense came easy for both sides from there with Fawns and Cayden Reed lighting it up for MoCo and Davidson for North Laurel.

Another Fawns three tied the game at 13-13 with three minutes left in the opening quarter. The junior hit a third shot from long range out of a timeout as Montgomery County took an 18-17 lead at the end of the first quarter. Shots continued to fall into the second period as the lead changed seven times in the frame. North Laurel was clinging to a 34-31 advantage at the break as Reed and Fawns combined for 28 points with Davidson dropping 18 of his own. MoCo was 7-12 from deep while the Jaguars shot 60 percent overall as a team.

Both teams made some key defensive adjustments out of the break. Reed and Fawns took a back seat for Montgomery County, same goes for North Laurel’s Davidson. But Tyce Jarvis, scoreless in the first half, stepped up for the Indians with 11 points in the third quarter. MoCo went ahead by as many as eight points, 52-44, before Davidson found his groove late, scoring four straight to close the period. North Laurel trailed 52-50 going into the final frame.

“Halftime I left him alone,” Mays said of Jarvis, who struggled early before picking it up after the break. “I think his teammates really helped him… He responded like a champion. And I’m really proud of him. I’m really proud of him. Because a year ago, he would have not had that response.”

It was a slow start to the fourth quarter until Ethan Dunn had his moment for Montgomery County. He nailed a jumper before hitting the biggest shot of the game one minute later: a three-pointer that put his team up 59-53 with under four minutes to go. A timely steal and score from Jarvis pushed the lead to eight for MoCo. Turnovers plagued the Jaguars down the stretch.

North Laurel tried to make it interesting in the final 20 seconds. Davidson hit a three before scooping up a loose ball for a layup to make it a one-point game with six seconds to go. But Reed knocked in two free throws after getting fouled to make it a three-point game. North Laurel failed to get off a final shot as Montgomery County locked up a spot in Saturday’s semifinals.