The GRC WinCity basketball survived a late scare from the North Laurel Jaguars Thursday in a 62-54 win to head back to the Elite 8 where they will face Lyon County tonight.  

The Cardinals really controlled the game from start to finish, never trailing after the 5 minute mark in the opening quarter. GRC was able to keep the Jaguars quiet early, jumping out to an 18-5 lead after the opening quarter of play. 

On his birthday it was the point guard Sam Parrish who led the team in points going into the half with 15. Parrish and fellow senior Jerone Morton both finished the game with 19 points. Reshaun Hampton added 16.

Head coach Josh Cook knew with North Laurel standout Reed Sheppard guarding Morton, Parrish would be left open to beat his man one-on-one, so GRC was ready to exploit that matchup.

“He’s so quick and when he’s in a really good rhythm and he shifts and changes his speed,  it’s a very hard matchup,” Cook said in his postgame interview. “We have an unselfish team and they understood Sam had the right matchup, so we fed Sam and let Sam make the plays.”  

GRC took a eight-point lead into the break, and rebounding was a big reason why. The Cards out rebounded the Jags 22-10 in the first half which really helped them maintain a lead, especially with Sheppard starting to hit some shots.  

The Cardinals blew it open in the third quarter, hitting multiple threes and Morton getting hot, giving the Cardinals a 22-point lead late in the quarter. GRC looked like they were going to run away with it but North didn’t go away, climbing all the way back and cutting the Cards’ lead to just seven. 

Some late turnovers gave North a few extra possessions and they jumped back in the game. GRC had 13 turnovers which resulted in 17 Jag points. 

The UK commit Sheppard finished with 23 points, but the Cardinals were able to hold his teammates to limited points for the game, thanks to some great defense. “I thought defensively we were phenomenal for about 80 percent of the game,” Cook said. “There was a little time there where we got a little sloppy, and I try to hold them to a high standard. I’m super proud though. They want to compete, they want to be here, and they want to play at a high level.”  

After not scoring the whole game it was Trent Edwards who sealed the game for GRC. Once North cut it to seven, Tyliek Maxwell found Edwards open under the basket where he got fouled and layed one in for an and-one to put the Cards back up by nine. He hit the free throw to put the Cards up 10, and that was the dagger in the game. 

Even though Edwards only finished with five points and three rebounds, Coach Cook had some very high praise for him about the player he is defensively. 

“He’s the anchor of the defense,” Cook said. “In my opinion he might be the ultimate separator in the entire tournament. I’m not sure there’s another team in the tournament that has a guy that guards like he does, competes like he does, and protects the rim and the floor. He’s in the right spot at the right time. He may have had five points tonight, but he probably contested at least 50% of the shots.” 

The Cardinals have secured their spot in the Elite 8 for the third year in a row, and will face the all-time leading scorer in KHSAA history in Travis Perry. Defensively GRC will have to bring it again because Lyon County shoots just under 50% from the field on the year. If the Cards can just maintain Perry they should be able to advance to the Final Four yet again.