WILLIAMSBURG — With his team clinging to a 50-46 lead, Ryder Akins’ knocked down a 3-pointer to end the third quarter allowing Corbin to have some much-needed breathing room heading into the final eight minutes against 50th District for Whitley County.
With the district’s top seed on the line, the Redhounds built off the momentum gained by Akins’ shot, and held off the Colonels in the fourth quarter to claim a 69-63 win.
The six-point victory locked up the 50th District’s top seed for Corbin, who improved to 15-7 overall, and 5-1 versus district opponents. The Colonels fell to 18-6 and 3-3 versus district foes.
“Extremely proud of my team tonight,” Corbin coach Tony Pietrowski said. “We were far from perfect but showed a real desire to win. Often that is the difference in games of this magnitude.
“With the way the Ellis boys shot it early, and late for that matter, I was impressed with the fact we were able to build and maintain a lead,” he added. “Couple guys off the bench played huge roles for us tonight. Lucas (Brittain), and Zach (Reynolds) did numerous little things that it takes to win. Proud of them. Trey (Worley) was good most all of the night. They keyed in on Zander (Curry) and Eli (Pietrowski) and I thought he took advantage of that. Zander was a rock for me again. Big plays consistently all evening. Congrats to Zander, who surpassed the 500 rebound mark this evening. Eli turned it on when we needed it most. Had some big finishes and controlled the glass. All and all, an excellent effort by our team. We are proud to be the number one seed.”
Trey Worley led Corbin with 18 points while Akins finished with 15 points. Pietrowski added 14 points, and Curry chipped in 12 points.
Whitley County’s Dre Ellis led all scorers with 23 points while Evans Ellis added 16 points. Bryson Mahan scored 10 points, and Bryce Anderson finished with nine points.
