The good, the bad and the ugly plays out in boys’ basketball

It was the good, the bad and the ugly in boys’ basketball this past week.

The good is Coach Eric Swords’ Williamsburg Yellow Jackets remaining undefeated at 5-0.

The Jackets pulled out an overtime win at home Friday against Harlan County for the biggest win of the season.

Coming off of an 11-10 season, Williamsburg is riding a wave.

Can the Jackets keep that wave going this week with a trip to Corbin Friday night?

Stay tuned.

The bad is the departure of Whitley County Coach Mark White just two games into the season.

White took the firing in stride, which you expect from someone with 32 years of coaching experience.

Coaches with any time in the game know that they are hired to be fired.

On the Whitley County side, there is silence. Neither Superintendent John Siler, nor Athletic Director Bryan Stewart returned calls seeking a comment on the decision.

The only thing the school system said was issuing a statement that White was no longer with the program.

It was a bad year last year in White’s first year with the team suffering through an 11-game losing streak.

If a decision was made to make a change after that, it would have been somewhat understandable.

But the Colonels came out of the gate 2-0 this season under White.

When hiring coaches, the school system puts on a big event with parents, supporters and the media gathering to meet and hear from school system representatives and the coach.

Somebody at the school system owes the Whitley County faithful an explanation. And it shouldn’t come through the grapevine.

Ugly is the only way to describe the Corbin Redhounds’ 81-50 loss Friday night at North Laurel.

This was a game with a lot of hype as both teams are expected to compete for the 13^th Region title.

The Redhounds shot 32 percent from the field and 52 percent from the free throw line. There were several points where they couldn’t seem to buy a basket as the Jaguars stretched the lead in the second quarter, and then Corbin got in desperation mode in trying to make up ground late in the game.

One area where the Redhounds got killed was on the boards as North Laurel outrebounded them 47-28.

The good news for Coach Tony Pietrowski and the Redhounds is that they went down this road last year.

It was an 83-64 early season loss at South Laurel that highlighted the Redhounds’ struggles.

After winning just three of the first nine games last season, Corbin ran off a 10-game winning streak over the next month.

The Redhounds are back in the friendly confines of Gilliam Gymnasium for two games this week before heading to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and then Belfry in eastern Kentucky for holiday tournaments.

Look for Pietrowski’s squad to bounce back from Friday and be a factor in the district and region.

A few other things:

• Congratulations to new Corbin ‘Rasslin Redhounds Coach Chuck Davis.

Corbin has begun practice, and from what I have been told by school officials, expect the Redhounds to field a full boys’ team and a sizeable girls’ team.

• I would like to post results for Whitley County Wrestling, Corbin Swimming and Diving and Corbin Bowling. Anyone that can provide me with information, please email me at DManning@corbinnewsjournal.com.