After a four-year hiatus, Tony Pietrowski’s Corbin Redhounds are back in the 13th Region Boys’ Tournament championship after cruising past Barbourville with a 58-34 win.
The Redhounds will have a day off before they face-off against North Laurel in Monday’s 13th Region Boys’ Tournament title game.
The Jaguars advanced to the championship game by defeating South Laurel, 62-44, during Saturday’s first semifinal game.
Corbin and North Laurel played each other at Corbin on Feb. 17 with the Jaguars coming away with a 68-47 win.
“Excited to get the win and advance to the finals of the region,” Corbin coach Tony Pietrowski said. “Obviously, not having (Matthew) Warren was difficult on Barbourville but I thought our team stayed focused, stuck to the game plan and shared the ball extremely well.
“A lot of talk around the region had already put us in the finals,” he added. “I’m proud of my guys for not overlooking anyone and focusing on one game at a time.”
The Redhounds didn’t have any trouble Barbourville after taking a 29-15 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Corbin used a 20-10 run in the third quarter to put the game away, taking a 49-25 advantage into the final quarter of play.
Hayden Llewellyn scored a game-high 22 points while finishing with five rebounds. Zander Curry finished with eight points and three rebounds while Brody Wells had seven points, three rebounds, and two assists. Carter Stewart scored five points while leading his team with nine assists, and three steals.
The Redhounds shot 24-of-47 from the floor, including a 5-of-10 shooting effort from 3-point range. Corbin outrebounded the Tigers, 25-18, and forced them into 11 turnovers.
Barbourville, who was without the services of leading scorer Matt Warren, who attempted to play but couldn’t finish due to an injury he sustained during his team’s win over Clay County earlier in the week.
KT Turner led the Tigers with 13 points while Ty Clark finished with eight points, and Travis Scott scored six points.
Barbourville finished the game hitting 14-of-41 shot attempts, including going 2-of-15 from 3-point range.
Corbin’s defensive pressure in the first half paved the way to a comfortable 29-15 halftime lead.
The Redhounds held a slim 15-11 advantage at the end of the first quarter but used a 14-4 run in the second quarter to build the 14-point lead.
Corbin limited Barbourville to 7-of-18 shooting from the floor, including a 0-of-6 effort from 3-point range. The Tigers were outrebounded, 13-7, and turned the ball over six times.
KT Turner kept his team in the contest with eight points during the first half while Travis Scott had four points.
The Redhounds were clicking shooting the ball, hitting 12-of-23 shot attempts while hitting 2-of-6 3-point attempts. Corbin distributed the ball well, finishing with 10 assists during the first 16 minutes.
Llewellyn had 11 points, five rebounds, and two assists while Curry had eight points. Wells added five points, and three rebounds.
Corbin improves to 88-45 overall in the 13th Region Tournament while Barbourville falls to 19-36.
