CORBIN—Another titanic battle between South Laurel and Corbin was waged Friday night, with the 50th District title the prize for these two basketball powers.

In the end, the Redhounds escaped with a 58-57 win over a determined Cardinal team that gave the defending district and region champs all they wanted, and then some.

“We are one possession away from winning the game,” South coach Steve Wright said. “One better defensive or offensive possession, and we win the game.”

“I’m very excited with the win,” Corbin coach Tony Pietrowski said. “It’s always a tough battle when you play South Laurel.”

If you look at the statistics, you see a pretty even game, except in one category: Free throws. Corbin was 15-of-26 from the free throw line, while South Laurel made just three trips. The good news is, the Cards made all three.

“You kind of expect to get some points there,” Wright said. “That’s usually where you can get some points, but we didn’t get there tonight.”

With 59.1 seconds left, the Redhounds held a 10-point lead, 56-46, when Madison Johnson sank a three-pointer.

But Matt Watkins answered with a three of his own, and Matt Gilbert followed with another three, cutting the lead to four, 56-52, with 29.1 seconds left.

Following a Corbin time-out, the Cards’ defense stepped up, forcing a five second call on the inbounds play. On South’s next possession, Eric Wright scored on a floater in the lane to make it a two-point game.

The Cards almost forced another five second call, but Wright ended up fouling Issac Wilson, who sank both free throws to push the lead back to four, 58-54, with 11.3 ticks left. South pushed the ball upcourt, and got it in the hands of Watkins, who sank his fifth three of the night to bring his team to within one.

Unfortunately for the Cards, they were out of time-outs, and the clock ran out, giving Corbin the one-point win.

“We were lucky enough to be up one on that three,” Pietrowski said of the Watkins shot.

The Cards owned the first quarter, thanks to the inside play of Matt St. John (11 points) and the three point shooting of Gilbert (two) and Watkins (two) to take a 23-10 lead before Corbin scored the final four points of the quarter.

South’s offense then disappeared, as the Cards didn’t score a basket from the field until there was 2:46 left in the half, when Gilbert drained another three. Before that, Corbin opened the quarter with a 13-2 run to take a 27-25 lead. Wilson was the spark plug in the run, scoring eight points. He would finish with 19. The half ended with the score tied, 32-32.

Two baskets from Watkins to open the third gave South a 36-32 lead. He would score again, and Wright would nail a three, and with 1:46 left, the South lead was six, 41-36. A basket by Travis Smith, and two free throws from Aaron Manns, cut the lead to two going into the fourth quarter, 41-39. St. John had to sit out most of the second and third quarters with foul trouble. He would finish 13 points and 10 rebounds. Watkins led South with 23, while Gilbert added 14.

The Cards suffered another dry spell, one that allowed Corbin to take the lead. Following Wright’s three with 1:46 left in the third, South wouldn’t score again until the 4:18 mark of the fourth, when Watkins hit another three, cutting the Corbin lead from seven to four, 48-44. Watkins was 5-of-5 from three-point land, and the Cards as a team were 10-of-15.

“We had a couple of times when we went stagnate on offense,” Wright said. “I don’t know why.”

Still, Wright was pleased with his team’s effort in the game, despite the loss.

“With the exception of Saint (Matt St. John) having to sit out about a quarter of the game, we executed our game plan well,” Wright said. “This is a great sign for us next week. There’s no guarantees, but we are playing awfully well at this time. We got a good effort out of everybody tonight. We just gotta execute a little better, get to the rim off the dribble, and get to the free throw line more.”

The Cards, along with Corbin, advance to this week’s 13th Region tournament at The Arena in Corbin. The draw was held Sunday morning.

Denis House can be reached at sports@sentinel-echo.com.



50th District Final

at Corbin

Corbin 58, South Laurel 57

South Laurel 23 11 9 16—57

Corbin 14 18 7 19—58

SOUTH LAUREL (57)—Wright 5, Watkins 23, Gilbert 14, St. John 13, Huff 2.

CORBIN (58)—Wilson 19, Madison Johnson 20, Taylor 2, Smith 8, Manns 9.