Overtime Victory

Depending on the poll fans looked at, the Corbin Redhounds and the Purple Flash of Lone Oak High School were ranked near the bottom of the list when the National City/KHSAA Boys’ Sweet 16 began last Wednesday afternoon.
The first-round match-up between the Redhounds and Purple Flash was expected to come down to the wire. No one never knew really how close it would be, not even 6-4 senior Jarad Key, whose 10-footer just barely missed sending his team to the second-round at the buzzer.
But in the end, it was the Corbin Redhounds, who hit 11 of 20 free throws in the overtime period that advanced to the quarterfinals with a 75-67 win over the first region champions.
“Getting the lead in the overtime really gave us a boost,” said Corbin coach Tony Pietrowski.
Key’s attempt came at the buzzer after the Purple Flash has taken a time-out with 3.9 left in the game and the score tied at 57-57. “He had a good look and it was right on line,” said Pietrowski.
“We put ourselves in a position to win a basketball game,” said Lone Oak coach Andy Poore. “For these guys, the first time in school history at Lone Oak has been to the state tournament was big time and I can’t be more proud of them.”
“They played with everything they had and played a great basketball game,” he said. “We just came up a little bit short.”
In the overtime, it was all Corbin, most of which came at the free throw line. But the first two baskets of the extra period by senior Jordan Noble got things off to a great start. His back to back baskets pushed the Redhounds out to a 61-57 before Key answered with a bucket.
The it was a parade to the free throw line as senior Andrew Parks hit a pair of free throws with 2:17 left in the overtime. Noble followed, hitting one of two then it was Parks on a three-point play attempt with 1:36. He missed the free throw but gave Corbin a 66-59 lead.
Tate, Josh Crawford and Brad Lawson would all head to the line and hit eight of 13 free throws in the final minute and a half to secure Corbin’s spot in the quarterfinals against second-region champion, University Heights. “When we got into the overtime, we perked up and took over the game.”
“We didn’t make all of our foul shots, but we made enough to pull it out,” said Pietrowski.
For the third straight game in post-season play, the Redhounds had to play from behind. Corbin jumped out to the quick, 8-3 lead behind Noble and Ryan Swim but the Flash outscored Corbin, 11-2 midway through the quarter and took an 18-10 lead when Sean Looper hit a layup with 1:45 in the quarter.
Lone Oak led at the first stop, 22-14. “Playing from behind is something I don’t like to do but this team is mature enough to stay patient and try to find a way to get back into the basketball game,” said Pietrowski.
The Redhounds (21-10) did that in the second period as they outscored Lone Oak, 17-11 in the second period and trailed at the half, 33-31.
Josh Crawford, an 8th grader, had 10 points in the second period. He had baskets from close range, outside and the free throw line.
Corbin quickly made up the difference as Crawford hit a pair of free throws and Noble hit a three pointer to pull the Redhounds within 22-19.
Lone Oak leading scorer, Chase Denson, who was flawless in the first half, scored for the Flash to make it 24-19.
Back to back baskets by Crawford pulled Corbin within a point. Luke Shuemaker knocked down two free throws for a 26-23 then Parks and Crawford scored to push Corbin back on top, 27-26. The lead changed hands before Denson connected on a three-point play. He added two free throws at the :28 mark and the Purple Flash was back on top, 33-29. Crawford closed out the half with a basket and the teams went to the dressing room the Flash leading, 33-31.
From that point on, the largest lead was five (38-33) by Lone Oak when Key hit a three pointer.
The Redhounds tied the game at 41-41 on a Parks three point play with 4:35 in the third. Then they took a 44-43 lead on a Noble trey-ball. Corbin trailed at the end of three, 47-45.
Corbin went to a zone defense that slowed the Purple Flash in the final minutes. “We wanted to stop there penetration,” Pietrowski said. “We had a little bit of a lead and knew they were going to pitch and penetrate, it’s something we have used at different times of the year and we do a good job of locating the shooter. If they shoot it is going to be a little bit deeper and we’re a pretty good rebounding team out of that zone.”
The biggest lead in the fourth quarter came when Crawford hit a pair of free throws to push the Redhounds ahead, 55-50. However, Lone Oak outscored the Redhounds 7-2 in the final three minutes, sending the game into overtime.
Parks had a big day on the boards with 19 rebounds, one of the highest totals ever in first-round play. “We have won a lot of games because of our play on the boards,” said Pietrowski. “Not only Andrew and Ryan Swim, one of our bigger kids, but Josh Ware and Brad Lawson as well. We were out-rebounding them at half-time by two and I challenged the kids, I thought this was the kind of game we could grab some offensive and defensive rebounds and in the second half we were able to do that,” said Pietrowski.
“That’s one thing that has hurt us all year long,” said Poore. “We start three guards and some nights we do a lot better on the boards than others. As far as rebounding, Corbin deserves a lot of credit, they never quit on the glass and in the state tournament you got to match the physciallity and I didn’t think we did that at times. That got them the victory.”
Lone Oak was led by senior Chase Denson, who had 24 first half points but ended the game with 30. “I think they gave him a lot less space in the second half defensively,” said Poore. “They did a good job being physical with him and made him work for every dribble.”

Corbin 14 17 14 12 18- 75
Lone Oak 22 11 14 10 10- 67
Corbin (75) – Brad Lawson 1-2 1-2 3, Ryan Tate 0-3 4-6 4, Ray Mills 0-1 0-0 0, Andrew Parks 6-17 5-8 17, Jordan Noble 11-21 2-6 27, Josh Crawford 5-14 10-12 20, Ryan Swim 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 25-62 22-34 75.
Lone Oak (67) – Neil Houser 1-8 2-3 4, Chase Denson 13-22 3-3 30, J. M. Ponting 2-5 2-6 7, Jarad Key 4-13 3-4 14, Luke Shuemaker 0-3 4-4 4, Sean Looper 1-2 0-0 2, Marshall Toy 2-2 0-0 4, Will Seidelman 0-1 2-2 2, Clay Pickens 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-58 16-22 67.
Three-point shooting: Corbin 3-9 (Noble 3-6, Tate 0-2, Mills 0-1). Lone Oak 5-16 (Houser 0-3, Denson 1-5, Ponting 1-2, Key 3-5, Looper 0-1). Rebounds: Corbin 46 (Parks 19), Lone Oak 33 (Key 7). Assists: Corbin 4 (Tate 4), Lone Oak 5 (Suemaker 2). Turnovers: Corbin 14, Lone Oak 18.