CORBIN — Just like the norm, when Corbin and South Laurel meet on the hardwood, you can expect a battle until the end.
Monday’s matchup between the two teams lived up to the hype with the Lady Redhounds doing just enough to outlast the Lady Cardinals with a 72-67 win.
“Happy for my team tonight, finding a way to win a tough and gritty 50th district battle between south and Corbin,” Corbin coach Isaac Wilson said. “Wen South and Corbin meet, throw everything out. It’s gonna be a nice, heated rivalry game and I believe everyone got just that tonight.”
Corbin built a 20-11 lead entering the second quarter only to see South Laurel trim its deficit to 36-35 at halftime.
Wilson’s squad increased its lead to 58-49 entering the fourth quarter, but once again the Lady Cardinals fought back and cut their deficit to three points before the Lady Redhounds wrapped the game up.
“Early on in the game, I felt that we struggled to find shooters, hat’s off to South Laurel,” he said. “They knocked down some big shots in the first half. In the second half, I feel that we did a little better job on locating shooters which I thought was the difference in the ball game.”
The win improves Corbin to 13-7 and 4-1 against 50th District teams. South Laurel is now 13-9 and 2-1 against district opponents.
“Any win in the 50th District is a good win because I feel that year in year out our district holds a lot of talent,” Wilson said. “We will enjoy this one for tonight and then set our sights on our next game against North Laurel on Friday.”
Kylie Clem and Kallie Housley led Corbin with 18 points apiece while Raegan Walker scored nine points. Bailey Stewart and Izzy Walker finished with eight points apiece.
Shelbie Mills led the Lady Cardinals with a game-high 21 points while Jamie Buenaventura finished with 15 points. Skeeter Mabe scored 13 points while Maci Messer added 10 points.
“Tough loss tonight,” South Laurel coach Chris Souder said. “We let them have too many runs that are hard to overcome. We battled back each time but just too taxing to keep digging out of a hole. Kids didn’t quit but we just still have a lot of simple things that we have to clean up. Cut it to three with four seconds left and thought we had a jump ball but they call a foul but that’s just part of the game. Hopefully, we will learn and get some things cleaned up moving forward.”
