CORBIN — Never count out Tony Pietrowski’s Corbin Redhounds when the calendar flips to March.
His squad will be playing for its first 13th Region championship since 2018 on Monday against the Harlan County Black Bears, who survived a 66-60 thriller against Clay County.
The Redhounds (23-8) have had ups and downs this season, but when it mattered most they answered the bell.
Led by Zander Curry’s 21-point, seven rebound effort, Corbin took control for the contest in the second quarter, and never looked back. Carter Stewart finished with 14 points and six assists while Ryder Adkins finished with 13 points.
“Extremely impressed with my teams performance today,” Pietrowski said. “Thought we played with tremendous effort and execution. Knox Central has a lot of difficult match ups for teams. Thought our defensive effort was outstanding. Trey, Zander and Carter showed some big time senior leadership. Zander continues to show that’s he’s one of the most special all-around athletes in the state. We are excited to advance to the finals and look forward to the opportunity ahead of us.”
The lead changed hands seven times during the first eight minutes with Lucas Britain’s old-fashioned 3-point play at the end of the first quarter giving Corbin a 17-16 lead.
Grayson Burton hit two 3-pointers during the period while Zander Curry added four points.
Knox Central opened the second quarter with a 5-0 run to take a 20-17 edge at the 6:25 mark, but that’s when things got interesting.
Two free throws by Trey Worley combined with a basket by Ryder Akins cut the Redhounds’ deficit to 22-21.
Worley’s putback have Corbin a 23-22 advantage at the 4:56 mark and Eli Pietrowski followed getting fouled on a layup attempt. The foul was Gavin Chadwell’s third and he followed with a technical putting him at four fouls with 4:45 left in the first half.
The Redhounds took advantage of another technical (called on Knox Central coach Mitchell Madden), and managed to take a 40-32 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Panthers methodically chipped away at their deficit in the third quarter, getting as close as 46-44 with 1:03 remaining before a Curry 3-pointer and two free throws by Stewart highlighted a 7-0 run to close out period, allowing Corbin to take a 51-44 advantage into the fourth quarter.
The Redhounds put the game away, outscoring Knox Central 17-12 in the fourth quarter.
