It’s a rare occasion to see Tony Pietrowski’s Corbin Redhounds enter a 13th Region Tournament game as underdogs but that was the case during Thursday’s first round matchup with regional tournament co-favorite Harlan County.
The Black Bears entered the contest with the most wins in the 13th Region (27), the region’s top RPI rating (.67486), and undefeated against regional opponents (13-0) but none of that seemed to phase Corbin much.
The Redhounds (22-7) thrived and led throughout the contest before picking up a 61-53 win over a stunned Harlan County squad.
“Extremely proud of my team,” Pietrowski said. “Thought we played some excellent defense, rebounded it well and attacked them well on offense. Hayden (Llewellyn), Carter (Stewart), Zander (Curry) and Kade (Elam) had to guard their trio of guards most of the night. They did excellent.
“We ganged rebound well,” he added. “Harlan County is underrated in that department and kept them off the glass most of the night. Eli (Pietrowski) really stepped up tonight. I’m very proud of the way he played. Didn’t look a freshman out there tonight.”
The win advances Corbin to Saturday’s Final Four matchup with Barbourville. The Tigers advanced to their first regional semifinal since 2015 by defeating Clay County, 68-57, earlier on Thursday.
Both the Redhounds and Barbourville met on Feb. 9 with Corbin coming away with a 59-57 win.
“We’ve got to rest up and refocus,” Pietrowski said. “Barbourville had us beat a few weeks ago, we know we have a tough test on our hands.”
Pietrowski received a balanced scoring effort from his team as Eli Pietrowski answered the bell, scoring 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor while hitting 7-of-11 shot attempts from the free-throw line. Carter Stewart totaled 11 points, eight assists and five rebounds while Zander Curry had nine points, and seven rebounds. Brody Wells finished with eight points, and five rebounds while Hayden Llewellyn finished with six points, two rebounds, and two assists.
Corbin hit 21-of-46 shot attempts, and 3-of-8 from the free-throw line. The Redhounds outrebounded Harlan County, 27-21, while forcing the Black Bears into eight turnovers.
Kyle Jones squad 17-of-49 from the floor while hitting 5-of-24 shot from behind the arc.
Maddox Huff led Harlan County with 23 points while
Totaling five rebounds. Trent Noah recorded a double-double, finishing with 22 points, and 10 rebounds.
The Redhounds came in and executed their game plan to perfection in the first half.
Corbin led 10-6 at the end of the first quarter, and continues to hold a 19-14 advantage at halftime, most in part due to limiting Harlan County to 4-of-20 shooting from the floor in the first 16 minutes.
The Black Bears were only 1-of-6 from 3-point range while getting out rebounded, 14-9.
Noah had seven points while Swanner scored four points
The Redhounds’ shooting wasn’t much better, hitting on 8-of-22 shot attempts, and 2-of-7 from 3-point range but they did just enough to build a five-point lead. Llewellyn, and Wells each had four points apiece for Corbin.
The Redhounds managed to hold on to a 38-33 advantage netting the fourth quarter before outscoring Harlan County, 28-24, in the final eight minutes.
Corbin is now 87-55 all-time in the 13th Region Tournament while the Black Bears fall to 8-11.
