North Laurel's Gray, Clark, and McCreary advance to state tennis tournament, Lady Jags turn in runner-up effort in region tourney play

Les Dixon, The Sentinel Echo, London, Ky.
·5 min read

May 26—WILLIAMSBURG — North Laurel coach Bob Smith saw his Jaguar and Lady Jaguar tennis teams turn in impressive results during this past week's 13th Region Boys' and Girls' Tennis Tournaments.

The Lady Jaguars turned in a runner-up finish while the Jaguars turned in a fourth-place effort.

North Laurel's Jaron Gray advanced to the 13th Region Girls' Tournament Singles Championship before falling to Corbin's Lindsay Jones, 6-0, 6-0.

Gray, and doubles partners Eva Clark and Baylie McCreary each advanced to the 2021 KHSAA State Tennis Championships after reaching semifinal action this past week.

"I'm extremely proud of our entire squad in earning the team runner-up trophy," North Laurel coach Bob Smith said. "All four of our entries contributed to our points total by earning wins during the tournament. Our four entries consisted of singles players Jaron Gray and Lorin Sasser along with doubles teams Eva Clark/Baylie McCreary and Meg Brock/Kelsi Howard. Really happy for the girls, and we move on to state next week for Jaron in the singles draw and Eva/Baylie in the doubles draw."

Girls Final

Lindsay Jones (Corbin) def. Jaron Gray (NL) 6-0, 6-0

"It was a tough final for Jaron," Smith said. "She's way better than she showed, but congrats to Lindsay. Love watching her play when it's not against us — very smart, tough player. We had a break-point that we set up well to win in the second game that got away from us, and then things just snowballed from there. But proud of my girl and her run to the final. She's had a great year, and we look forward to state next week."

Girls' Semifinals

Jaron Gray (NL) def. Sarah Smith (Barbourville) 6-1, 6-2

"Jaron played pretty well in advancing to the final," Smith said. "Smith is a good player and will only get better, but Jaron had a little too much firepower tonight. She mixed up her shots well and attacked when given the opportunity. I was happy with her play and excited to be playing in the final."

Hannah Jones/Nancy Jane Jackson (Corbin) def. Eva Clark/Baylie McCreary (NL) 6-4, 7-5

"We just had trouble holding serve tonight, and that was a big factor in the loss," Smith said. "Proud of our effort, though. The best thing about my two — they're tough-minded girls, and they weren't going down without a fight. We came back from 4-1 down in the second set to draw even. Had a couple of chances to break and serve for the second set but couldn't quite get over the hump. Wished we had played a little cleaner match, but hats off to Hannah and Nancy Jane — they were a little better than us tonight."

Quarterfinals

Jaron Gray (NL) def. Olivia McArthur (Corbin) 6-0, 6-1

Eva Clark/Baylie McCreary (NL) def. Emma Zehr/Meghan Steely (Whitley) 6-0, 6-2

Nate Hill (Corbin) def. Mahir Neeraj (NL) 7-6(7), 7-5

John Combs/Lucas Denman (Clay) def. Zack Harbach/Will Walton (NL) 7-6(7), 7-6(4)

"Wide range of emotions today as a coach," Smith said. "Very excited for Jaron, Baylie, and Eva to ensure a state tournament appearance with their wins yesterday. Jaron was dominant again while Eva and Baylie played fantastic against a quality team. We got the hardest draw of the top four seeds, so we knew we'd have to go out and earn it. Really happy for them all. On the other side, really hurting for our boys. Especially for our only senior in Zack. He and Will in doubles along with Mahir in singles suffered heartbreakers in their matches that could have gone either way. Very proud of them, though. Really fortunate to be able to coach them."

2nd Round Results

Jaron Gray (NL) defeated Kiley Gambrel (Bell) 6-0, 6-0

Allie Mitchell (South Laurel) def. Lorin Sasser (NL) 6-3, 6-2

Eva Clark/Baylie McCreary (NL) def. Macie Finley/Lilly Hoskins (South Laurel) 6-0, 6-1

Mary Higgins/Sydney Sester (Clay) def. Meg Brock/Kelsi Howard (NL) 6-2, 6-3

Mahir Neeraj (NL) def. Blake Buttery (Whitley) 6-0, 6-0

Micah Steely (Williamsburg) def. Zaid Salim (NL) 6-1, 6-1

Zack Harbach/Will Walton (NL) def. Tony Reynolds/Cody Clayborn (Harlan Co) 6-1, 6-1

Byrley/Cornett (Corbin) def. Trey Walton/Lucas Ball (NL) 6-0, 6-2

Girls Singles — 1st Round

Lorin Sasser (NL) def. Jaya Wilhelmy (HC) 6-3, 6-1

Girls Doubles — 1st Round

Meg Brock/Kelsi Howard (NL) def. Howard/Harrison (Harlan Ind.) 6-0, 6-0

Boys Singles — 1st Round

Mahir Neeraj (NL) def. Michael Smith (Barbourville) 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (8)

Zaid Salim (NL) def. Jacob Parman (South Laurel) 5-7, 6-0, 1-0 (9)

"It was a good first day for our boys and girls who were in action," Smith said. "Meg/Kelsi were dominant in their match while Lorin got us a win in singles against one of Harlan Co's top players. The boys' matches were much tighter. Mahir and Smith were two of the better non-seeded players in the draw, so I figured it could have gone either way. Zaid showed some resiliency by coming back to win after a close first set loss in his match."