For a team that didn’t have a full squad practice until after the first week of December, it sure hasn’t affected the Corbin Redhounds much.
Tony Pietrowski’s squad sent a statement to the rest of the 13th Region during Friday’s Grace Health Cumberland Falls Invitational when talking about favorites to be cutting down the nets at The Arena in March, they should be included in the discussions.
The Redhounds (7-2) built an early 15-point lead in the title game before holding a off a late rally by Knoxville Catholic to pick up a 61-58 win.
Once again, Corbin’s depth played another big role in its win.
The Redhounds received a balanced scoring attack with Brody Wells leading the way with 14 points. Zander Curry added 13 points while Hayden Llewellyn, and Carter Stewart each scored 10 points apiece. Eli Pietrowski scored nine points while Trey Worley finished with five points.
“What a big win for our team,” Pietrowski said. “Knoxville Catholic is loaded with talent. To beat teams of this caliber is special and something to be very proud of. We were able to gap them early and then make enough plays down the stretch to secure the win.
“Proud of all my kids this week,” he added. “I could speak at length about them all individually and how they contributed to our success all week long. The exciting thing is that we are only 60 percent of the team we could be. There are a lot of areas we can get better in. My guys should be excited about that as well. Special thanks to the Varsity Club for hosting an outstanding tournament.”
Corbin led 15-4 at the end of the first quarter, and 27-20 at halftime before seeing Knoxville Catholic cut its deficit to four points (41-37) entering the fourth quarter.
Knoxville Catholic rallied with less than a minute remaining in regulation, and took a 58-56 lead but Corbin took a 59-58 advantage with 19.3 remaining in the game after a 3-pointer by Llewellyn. Free throws by Curry, and Stewart wrapped up the win for the Redhounds.
