Lady Redhounds win big

Four Lady Redhounds finished in double digits as Corbin held off the McCreary Central Lady Raiders at Gilliam Gymnasium Monday night, 71-57.
Corbin (3-2) ran out to several big leads in first half as well as the second but couldn’t put the Lady Raiders away.
Corbin made some turnovers down the stretch that didn’t set well with coach Jennifer Parsons. “It was turnovers that were from experienced people,” Parsons said. “That was the disappointing part, however we kept at it throughout the whole game.”
“You just can’t have those minute or minute and a half mental lapses because the next time we may not be the one that comes out on top,” said Parsons. “This is something that we can learn from. We did the very same thing at Bell County last week where we got weak mentally having a couple of turnovers and not being aggressive to the basket.”
On the bright side, Parsons was tickled to see four players in double figures and the Lady Redhounds win the battle of the boards 27-9. “It was an excellent job rebounding and the unselfish play was terrific,” she said.
“That’s the best we have looked offensively, being unselfish with the ball,” added Parsons. “That’s something every coach wants to see every game. We knew McCreary County was going to play the zone, we know how to attack it with the high-low situation and knew that if we pulled Waters out on the floor that we would be able to hit the lay-ups.”
Corbin got off to a slow start as the Lady Raiders took a 7-4 lead in the game but the Lady Redhounds defense kicked in and outscored McCreary Central 16-6 in the final six minutes to grab a 20-13 lead.
Freshman Mikkah Rogers tied the game with a free throw at the 4:25 mark, she then scored on a lay-up after stealing the ball at mid-court to put Corbin ahead for good. McCreary closed the gap to one on a three pointer by Tucker but the next nine points belonged to the Lady Redhounds.
Heather Clouse drilled a three pointer followed by a Katie Akins put back for a 16-10 lead. Christina Sutton scored on a rebound basket and Morgan Barley hit a pair of free throws for a 20-10 lead with 1:06 left in the opening period.
A three pointer at the buzzer enabled the Lady Raiders to close out the quarter with a 20-13 deficit.
The Lady Raiders pulled within six (24-18) midway through the quarter but an 8-3 run allowed Corbin to post a 32-21 lead on baskets by Brittany Jackson, Akins and Barley. Corbin led at the half, 32-23.
Corbin pushed the lead into double figures in the third quarter and threatened to blow the game open when senior Jamie Bonza notched a three point play with 3:29 in the period. Bonza gave Corbin a 44-31 margin.
The lead would grow to 17 points (54-37) when Clouse hit a pair of free throws with :36 left in the quarter. Then in the first three minutes of the fourth period, Corbin led 64-44 on back to back baskets by Rogers and Bonza.
With Corbin leading 67-46, the Lady Raiders responded with a 10-0 run, cutting the Corbin lead to 67-57 when Marion hit a three pointer with a minute left in the game.
Barley hit a pair of free throws and Clouse scored from close range to close out the night.
Clouse led the Lady Redhounds with 16 points while Barley added 15 points. Also in double figures were Rogers with 14 points and Akins with 11 points.
Corbin will be back in action Saturday night when they play West Carter at 7:30 in the first-round of the Berea Holiday Classic.

McCreary Central 13 10 19 15- 57
Corbin 20 12 24 15- 71
McCreary Central (57) – Tucker 25, Waters 9, Marion 19, Vanover 4.
Corbin (71) – Bonza 5, Rogers 14, Clouse 16, Jackson 4, Sutton 6, Barley 15, Akins 11.