Continuing Coverage: Boys’ 13th Region basketball tournament

Read on for details from this year’s boys’ 13th Region basketball tournament at the Corbin Arena…

Monday: The Corbin Redhounds fell to the Harlan County Black Bears 67-65 in the finale of the 2017 boys’ 13th Region championship tournament Monday night. With the loss, the Hounds close out their season with a 27-6 overall record. In addition to ending the year as region runner-up, Corbin also won Cumberland Falls Invtational and 50th District championship titles in 2016-17. See Wednesday’s print edition of the News Journal for complete coverage.

Harlan County 67, Corbin 65
Harlan Co – 18 12 18 19 – 67
Corbin – 12 11 18 24 – 65
HC – Carmical 23, Creech 14, Spurlock 20, Simmons 6, Turner 4
C – Z Maguet 5, Barton 7, C Maguet 7, Sanders 10, A Taylor 23, Barnes 5, S Taylor 2, M Taylor 2, Hopkins 4

Saturday: After two intense games at the Corbin Arena, the 2017 boys’ 13th Region championship game is now set.

Up first Saturday were the Corbin Redhounds taking on Knox Central in a much-hyped and highly anticipated region semifinal matchup. As most expected, this one was physical and emotional from the opening whistle. At the end of one quarter things were all tied up at 9-9, but by halftime Corbin was able to take a 27-23 lead.

Knox outscored the Hounds 16-13 in the third quarter, but a buzzer beater three-point basket by junior Andrew Taylor gave Corbin the momentum heading into the fourth quarter of play.

The Panthers quickly squashed that momentum, however, going on a 6-0 run to start the fourth, but the Redhounds would not be denied. With just 1:22 remaining in regulation, sophomore Brody Barton hit two free throws to draw Corbin to within two points, 50-48.

The Panthers missed a shot on the other end of the court a few seconds later, with the rebound going to the Redhounds. Andrew Taylor drove the length of the court, laying it in to tie the game up at 50-50 with just about a minute left on the clock.

Another miss by Knox was rebounded by the Hounds, and Taylor once again drove back down the court, only to be fouled while attempting another layup. He hit his first free throw, putting Corbin up 51-50 with 31 seconds remaining.

Junior Panther Markelle Turner took the ball down the court, laying it in to give his team back the lead, but an offensive foul call took the shot away and gave possession back to the Redhounds.

Taylor went back to the free throw line with 13 seconds left, hitting both shots to give Corbin the three-point lead, 53-50. A Turner three-point shot could have tied, but it missed the mark. After two more free throws from Taylor and a last second layup from Knox, the final score came out to 55-52 in favor of the Redhounds.

“Everybody knew what this one was going to be like,” Andrew Taylor said after the win. “We split games with them earlier in the season, and there’s always been a rivalry between them and us. We’ve been prepping all year for this, though, and on Monday we’re going to get our shot.”

As for the attitude on the sideline, Taylor said, “Coach kept on telling us not to back down, and to stick to the game plan. That’s what we did. He is a great coach, and if you stick to his game plan you’re eventually going to prevail.”

Corbin Head Coach Tony Pietrowski said of Saturday’s semifinal victory, “It means a lot. For us to come out on the winning side means something to me, it means something to our program and it means something to the fan base. We’re all excited about it.”
“The thing is, we can’t exhale as a team,” Pietrowski continued. “Now we have to regroup and continue the process. We are going to enjoy this one, but there are still goals that we want to attain down the road.”

Corbin 55, Knox Central 52
Corbin – 9 18 13 15 – 55
Knox Central – 9 14 16 13 – 52
C – Barton 6, C Maguet 4, Sanders 7, A Taylor 28, Barnes 3, S Taylor 4, M Taylor 3
KC – Liford 4, Bierman 6, Wells 8, Turner 13, Martin 6, Imel 10, Adams 5

As for who Corbin (27-5) will be playing in the 13th Region finals Monday, that would be the Harlan County Black Bears (30-3) who survived an overtime thriller against South Laurel Saturday afternoon, winning 59-56. The Redhounds have come out on top against the Bears twice this season, defeating them at home 72-54 on January 14, and defeating them in Harlan County 73-61 on February 7.

Tipoff of Monday’s 13th Region championship contest is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Continue to look to thenewsjournal.net for coverage.

Thursday: After Thursday night’s games at the Corbin Arena, the semifinals of this year’s boys’ 13th Region championship tournament is now set.

First up were the South Laurel Cardinals, who took on Clay County in a rematch from 2016’s 13th Region finals. Clay made it interesting, but South was able to prevail in the end, winning 63-51 and improving to 23-10 on the year.

In the late game Thursday, the Lynn Camp Wildcats were hoping to pull off the upset win over the Harlan County Black Bears. They nearly did just that, keeping things close and never allowing the Bears to get out to more than a single-digit lead. The game, which featured several ties and lead changes, went right down to the wire. Harlan County was able to come out on top, though, winning 57-52 to advance to Saturday’s semifinal round.

“I’m proud of my kids,” said Lynn Camp Head Coach Dinky Phipps after the loss. “They could have laid down and quit, but they played as hard as they could. A block out here, or a missed shot there, and we could be the ones playing Saturday. If we could have taken the lead back and continued to put a little pressure on them we might have made it, but we had a couple of turnovers, and they were able to capitalize on it.”

The Wildcats end 2016-17 with an overall record of 18-13. Junior Tanner Boggs and sophomore Marcus Hollin both scored 16 points in their season finale. Junior Andrew Jones chipped in ten.

Harlan County 57, Lynn Camp 52
Harlan Co – 13 12 13 19 – 57
Lynn Camp – 13 10 17 12 – 52
HC – Carmical 20, Spurlock 20, Simmons 7, Pace 2, Turner 8
LC – Boggs 16, Hopkins 4, Hollin 16, Belew 2, Bundy 2, Burd 2, Jones 10

Check back here Saturday, March 4, for more coverage from the 2017 boys’ 13th Region championship tournament. Results will be provided from the Corbin versus Knox Central contest, scheduled for 1:00 p.m., and the South Laurel versus Harlan County contest, scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

Wednesday: With a 79-60 win over the Harlan Green Dragons Wednesday night, the Corbin Redhounds have advanced to the semifinals of this year’s 13th Region championship tournament.

The Hounds, now 26-5, were led Wednesday by junior Andrew Taylor, who scored 43 points and snagged 21 rebounds in the first round win. After the game, Head Coach Tony Pietrowski said of Taylor, “I see him all year, and I see his work ethic. I really feel that he is the best player in the state. He continues to show that in all of the things that he does. He obviously has the ability to score, but he had 21 rebounds tonight, and he can really guard as well. He’s just an all-around really talented kid, and probably the best that I’ve ever coached here at Corbin.”

Next up for the Redhounds will be a 1:00 p.m. game against the Knox Central Panthers (27-5) this Saturday, March 4, at the Corbin Arena. Knox defeated North Laurel 53-45 in their first round game Wednesday in order to advance to the region semis. This will be the third time that Corbin has played the Panthers this season. The first meeting took place in the finals of the 2016 Cumberland Falls Invitational Tournament back on December 30. The Hounds won that game 76-71, but Knox got their revenge a few weeks later, on January 20. On that night, the Panthers were able to pick up an impressive 93-80 victory over visiting Corbin, with junior Markelle Turner scoring a game-high 32 points.

When asked about Saturday’s semifinal game against Knox, Pietrowski said, “The first two games have been awesome to watch. Both teams are loaded with talent, but we’ll start prepping for them tonight. It’s going to be a tough matchup. They have a really nice team.”

Corbin 79, Harlan 60
Corbin – 21  17  19  22 – 79
Harlan – 13  16  11  20 – 60
C – Barton 2, C Maguet 3, Sanders 11, Z Maguet 10, A Taylor 43, S Taylor 4, M Taylor 4, Hopkins 2
H – Busroe 17, Ledford 18, Barnes 10, Wilson 1, Morton 10, Hawkins 2, McKenzie 2