High School Look Back: Peyton Broughton (North Laurel)
His high school career may have come to an end earlier than he wanted it to, but North Laurel High School’s Peyton Broughton can reminisce on an exceptional run throughout his five years of prep basketball. Although he was tasked with being the leader of his Jaguars team, Broughton overcame many obstacles and found a way to be North Laurel’s record-setter and one of the all-time best players in Kentucky history.
“My five years of high school basketball have been some of the best times of my life,” Broughton said. “I’ve had a lot of experiences that I feel have made me more mature and better prepared me for different situations. I feel personally I’ve had a lot of success as a player. I scored over 3,000 points and am the all time leading scorer at my school. I was a McDonald’s All-American nominee, (Kentucky) Mr. Basketball finalist and District (49) and Region (13) Player of the Year.”
Broughton says he really enjoyed his senior season – and why wouldn’t you when you’re performing like he did? On the 2016-17 campaign, Broughton poured in 31.0 points per game while shooting an impressive 62.9 percent from the field. Broughton also grabbed 8.3 rebounds per contest for the Jaguars, who went 24-8 overall.
“My senior year was a blast,” the player stated. “We finished 24-8 (overall). (We) won a lot of big games. I averaged 31 points and 8 rebounds (per game).”
This is just the beginning of a lengthy hoops career for Broughton, as he has signed to play college basketball at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, a program in the Ohio Valley Conference. As he left a mark on Kentucky prep basketball and is now on to bigger and better places, Broughton has a message for the athletes still playing at the high school level:
“My message to players still playing next year is to work hard and never take a day off,” Broughton added. “It’ll be over in a blink of an eye. Enjoy it and have fun.”