A new champion will be crowned Sunday in the 13th Region Girls’ Tournament.
And, it could very well be Jackson County.
The Lady Generals put on one of its best performances of the season during Saturday’s semifinal matchup against defending region champion Corbin, and by the time the game ended, Jackson County left no doubt who the better team was, winning, 64-42.
The Lady Generals’ margin of victory so far in this week’s tournament heading into Sunday’s 3 p.m. title game matchup with 49th District rival North Laurel is an impressive 20 points.
“This week they’ve executed the game plan every single time,” Jackson County coach Kourtney Tyra said of her players. “We went out, and man, I’m tickled, and thrilled.
“It probably was an upset to most people but we felt really confident coming in, and we knew Corbin was a really good team,” she added.
Jackson County has played North Laurel three times this season with the Lady Jaguars winning all three matchups, 55-48, 55-47, and in the 49th District title game, 71-41.
The Lady Generals have lost 32 straight games to North Laurel with their last win coming against the Lady Jaguars way back on Dec. 14, 2007.
Jackson County will be making its first appearance in a 13th Region title game since 2004.
After building a 42-14 first half lead, the Lady Generals cruised to the easy win.
Kylee Shannon led all scorers with 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting while finishing with three rebounds, and three assists, and for the second straight game, the Lady Generals had at least two players record a double-double.
Kenady Ward finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and two blocks while Abby Gilbert totaled 13 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, four blocks, and three steals.
Jackson County shot 26-of-46 from the floor, including a 2-of-4 effort from 3-point range. The Lady Generals outrebounded Corbin, 33-17.
The Lady Redhounds shot 17-of-58 from the floor, including going 2-of-12 from the floor. They turned the ball over nine times.
Bailey Stewart led Corbin with 16 points, four rebounds, and four steals while Kylie Clem had nine points.
“Jackson County is a really tough matchup for us,” Corbin coach Isaac Wilson said. “They did a great job of handling our pressure. When they got in halfcourt they were a tough matchup for us. Hat’s off to them they played a great basketball game.
“It’s disappointing, but we return everyone next year,” he added. “Jackson County had a lot of fire and they looked like a team that I coached last year. They’re going to be a tough out tomorrow for sure.”
Jackson County (22-9) came out firing on all cylinders, and the defending region championship Lady Redhounds had no answers.
The Lady Generals built a 19-10 lead by the time the first quarter ended, and used a 23-4 run in the second quarter to build comfortable, and surprising, 42-14 lead.
Shannon was red-hot from the floor, hitting 5-of-6 shot attempts for 15 points while turning in three assists. Ward was unstoppable in the paint, scoring 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting while pulling down four rebounds, and totaling two assists, and two blocked shots. Madison Marcum knocked down two 3-pointers and had eight points while Gilbert had seven points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block.
Jackson County was 17-of-28 from the floor while outrebounding Corbin in the first half, 17-10.
The Lady Redhounds (22-10) struggled from the floor in the first half, hitting on only 6-of-27 shot attempts, including 0-for-7 from 3-point range. They also turned the ball over seven times.
Stewart led Corbin with six points while four players had two points apiece.
Jackson County will be appearing in its seventh 13th Region title game. The Lady Generals are 25-19 all-time in the 13th Region Tournament. The last time they won the regional title was back in 2003 against Rockcastle County (54-40). They have five overall regional title, and post a 5-1 mark in region tournament title games.
The loss dropped Corbin to 41-27 overall in the 13th Region Tournament.
