Pikeville's defense clamps Reed Sheppard, North Laurel in 59-51 Sweet 16 win

Roughly 12,000 sets of eyes seated in Rupp Arena were focused on Reed Sheppard coming into Wednesday’s nightcap, but it didn’t take long for them to shift to the other bench.

Sheppard, a class of 2023 Kentucky commit, made his debut in what will soon be his future home gym. After cruising through the 13th Region, North Laurel entered the 2022 UK HealthCare Boy’s Sweet 16 as the perceived favorites to beat the Pikeville Panthers in the opening round and advance to the quarterfinals. KSR ranked the two teams at No. 6 (North Laurel) and No. 8 (Pikeville) in the state, but the narrative surrounding Sheppard’s first trip to Rupp Arena stole the headlines.

Then the ball was tipped.

Outside of a productive first quarter, North Laurel found itself playing catchup for the majority of the evening. Normally scoring 79 points per contest — third in the entire state — the Jaguars came up about 28 points shy of that mark, falling to the Pikeville Panthers 59-51 in the final game of the opening day. It was an unexpected upset to everyone except for the players and coaches on Pikeville’s bench.

“I feel like a lot of people felt like we were the underdog coming into this game,” Pikeville head coach Elisha Justice said postgame. “This is a team that I battled with all year — 31-2 I believe coming into this game — so I know who I’m going to battle with. And I know these guys, they’re not scared of nobody, they don’t back down from nobody.

Sheppard finished with a loaded stat line of 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two blocks, and six steals, but on a 5-20 shooting mark with four turnovers. It was his first time suiting up at Rupp Arena, where he’ll soon play roughly 20 times per season once he arrives in Lexington next summer. He’d always dreamt of the first time he’d get to play in Rupp, and he made sure to soak in the moment when he first stepped onto the floor, but there was likely a different outcome that played over and over in his head the last several years.

“It was a very special moment,” Sheppard said following the loss. “Everybody as a kid dreams of playing in the Sweet 16 and running out on Rupp Arena. The first time that we ran out, it was all you could do not to just have a big smile on your face running out, everybody was yelling, they’re finally going to warm up at Rupp Arena. And not a lot of kids can say they got to do that at 17, 18 years old. So it was a very special moment for sure.”

Reed Sheppard on how special it is to play at Rupp Arena. Every kid dreams about this. ⁦@KySportsRadio⁩ ⁦@ZGeogheganKSR⁩ ⁦@ryanlemond⁩ ⁦@MrsTylerKSR⁩ ⁦@JackPilgrimKSR⁩ pic.twitter.com/vvbjBz3hV0

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) March 17, 2022

Much will be made about the future Wildacts’ off night, but the credit should be appropriately directed toward the efforts of a relentless Pikeville defense.

The Panthers made it a point to take away Sheppard’s lethal mid-range game, forcing him into tough pull-up jumpers that had little chance of falling in. Elsewhere, his teammates shot a combined 4-15 from beyond the arc. Had North Laurel forward Ryan Davidson not come through with his 23 points and 11 rebounds, the final score could have looked much worse.

“I feel like that was probably one of the poorest games that we played all season long, but I think Pikeville had a lot to do with that,” North Laurel head coach Nate Valentine said postgame. “They did a really good job of switching things. And they can guard one through five, they kind of took things away. And when you don’t make shots early, you saw us play.”

Pikeville’s gameplan wasn’t complicated, but it sure was effective: prevent Sheppard from getting easy looks. Judging by his 25 percent shooting and the final tally on the scoreboard, the Panthers executed that to perfection.

“They had a guy sitting in the lane the whole time,” Valentine added, referring to the extra defender for Pikeville, who was always waiting for Sheppard to get to his spot in the middle of the floor.

On the offensive end of the hardwood, Pikeville was just as impressive. In particular, senior point guard Keian Worrix and junior forward Rylee Samons, who is every bit of 6-foot-7, put on a masterclass performance. Worrix dribbled around the North Laurel defense all night, closing on 12 points and six assists, while Samons exploded for 23 points and eight rebounds, drilling four triples in the process.

Add in 14 more points and 11 more rebounds from senior forward Nick Robinson, the most efficient scorer in the entire state at 74.2 percent coming into the game, and Pikeville unleashed a three-headed monster. The Panthers held a double-digit lead for most of the second half until a late comeback effort from North Laurel came up well short.

Pikeville extending the lead over North Laurel 49-36. 4:41 left on another ⁦@SamonsRylee⁩ 3 ⁦@PikevillePanth1⁩ pic.twitter.com/cBUMpH2WsI

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) March 17, 2022

Sheppard would do his best to bring North Laurel within striking distance as the final few minutes ran off the clock, but Pikeville always had an answer to eliminate any pressure. After holding North Laurel to just 16 combined points across the second and third quarters, the Panthers were in full control heading into the fourth and final frame.

Pikeville will take Thursday off before preparing for another high-profile matchup, this one coming against No. 1 George Rogers Clark, which cruised to a 77-36 blowout victory over Perry County Central earlier on Wednesday. That contest will tipoff on Friday inside of Rupp Arena at 1:30 p.m. EST.