CORBIN — Whitley County needed a win in the worst way entering Friday’s 50th District matchup with Corbin.
After starting the season with a 13-1 start, the Colonels had lost three in a row, and needed to avoid starting district play with an 0-3 mark.
Whitley County managed to accomplish the feat by stunning Corbin on its home court while snapping a 20-game losing skid to the Redhounds by securing a 46-45 win.
The Colonels trailed 45-44 with under five seconds left when Bryce Anderson took the inbounds pass and drove upcourt before hitting a wide-open Lucas Queener in stride with the game winning layup with one second remaining in the game.
“Extremely proud of our guys,” Whitley County coach Eric Swords said. “We played extremely hard and executed our game plan to perfection. We had a little let down after losing two close district games on the road, and started to doubt a little about how good we are. But this win should show our guys that what and how we are building is the right way. Corbin has a great team and staff. I have a lot of respect for Coach P, it’s a big win for us but at the same time it’s just another district game, we got bigger goals.”
The win by Whitley County (14-4) now gives each team in the 50th District a district loss as Corbin is now 3-1, South Laurel is 1-1 while Whitley County and Williamsburg are both 1-2.
“Congrats to Coach Swords and Whitley County,” Corbin coach Tony Pietrowski said. “They outplayed and out coached us tonight. Ultimately deserving the win more than us. We never really played to the best of our abilities this evening. Too many mistakes, missed assignments and lack of execution.
“Hard pill to swallow but hope we are better for it down the road,” he added. “Often you can learn much more in a lose if you’re willing to take it on. Love my kids and our program. No one is going to feel sorry for The Redhounds. So neither are we, back to work as soon as possible. Need some good practices headed into next week. Clay County looks to be playing really well right now and we all know how good Great Crossings basketball team is.”
Queener led the Colonels in scoring with 11 points while Danny Ellis added 10 points. Mahan and Bruce Anderson added nine points apiece. Jackson Petrey finished with seven points.
Zander Curry and Eli Pietrowski scored 12 points apiece for Corbin (12-5) while Trey Worley finished with nine points, and Conner Middleton scored eight points.
