Lady Redhounds fall to GRC 79-70 in first round of Sweet 16

Corbin senior Miranda Wilson scores two of her game-high 29 points during the team’s Sweet 16 loss Thursday to George Rogers Clark.

Senior point guard Miranda Wilson carved and slashed her way through taller defenders to turn in an explosive 29-point effort in the first round of the Kentucky High School Girls Sweet 16 Thursday, but the Corbin Lady Redhounds couldn’t quite overcome their size disadvantage, falling to George Rogers Clark 79-70.

Wilson fouled out late in the fourth quarter after literally willing her team into contention when it looked like the chips were down. To go along with her game-high scoring effort, she had also had six steals and four assists. She was perfect from the free throw line and nailed four of seven three-point attempts, all at timely points in the game.

First-year Lady Redhounds head coach Jason McDaniel praised his team’s effort. Corbin stayed within striking distance of victory the entire game, despite points where it looked as though things might get out of hand.

“I’m very lucky to have stepped into this position. I’ve seen these girls grow up throughout the years … honestly, nothing they do surprises me,” McDaniel said of his team’s gritty performance. “They’ve stepped up to the challenge. They’ve done that year in and year out.”

It’s the second straight year the Lady Redhounds have appeared in the Sweet 16. This time around, they didn’t appear timid or overwhelmed by their surroundings.

Corbin attempted to negate GRC’s significant size advantage by aggressively forcing drives into the Lady Cardinal’s zone defense, mixed with some timely outside shooting.

The Lady Redhounds were behind six at halftime. The game was looking winnable.

But GRC began pulling away in the third, and hit four straight threes in the quarter during a 12-3 spurt to muscle ahead to a 52-39 advantage.

Corbin rallied furiously. With 3:55 to play, center Natalye Gallagher hit a pair of free throws to cut the advantage to just six. The Lady Redhounds had a chance to make the deficit only four, but missed a layup off a steal.

Corbin struggled to handle GRC’s height advantage. Senior center Sandra Skinner ruled the paint, pouring in 25 points on 9 for 11 shooting. She also registered a pair of blocked shots.

And the Lady Cardinals had an unexpectedly solid outside shooting effort. They shot a blistering 62 percent overall from the field for the game, and and impressive 59 percent from beyond the three-point arc (10-17).

“They shot the ball exceptionally well,” McDaniel said. “The film I reviewed, they did not shoot that well, but that’s what happens when you come up here. I give them a lot of credit. They made a lot of shots when they needed to.”

Besides Wilson, two other players for Corbin finished the game in double figures. Jaclyn Jewell had 13 and guard Brooklyn Ashurst got 10.

Corbin finishes the season 26-8.