13th Region Semifinals

The opening round games produced two fantastic games, a third game that was somewhat respectable, and a blowout. Let’s recap. 
 

North Laurel 55 Harlan 52:

The Green Dragons were oh so close. They led at the half. They led entering the fourth. They led with a few minutes left. Will Austin hit a huge 3 with 10 seconds left to tie the game. It seemed like the 1A school from these deep dark hills of eastern Kentucky were going to upend the region favorite and Mr. Basketball favorite. But then Ryan Davidson happened. Up to this point the Jaguars had played catch-up the entire game. Reed had an off night shooting but still had 18 and 13 at the time. Chadwell played great with 15 and 12. But the third man of the trip was having an off night. Davidson was 1 for 11 and couldn’t seem to get anything to drop. But then with 10 seconds to go Reed took his man off the dribble, Davidsons defender had to help off which left him open.. and BANG. Ryan Davidson knocked down the huge open 3 with 2.2 seconds left to seal the deal. What an electric opening to the tournament. 
 

South Laurel 70 Pineville 44

I've said it all year. Jeff Davis coached teams turn it up on the defensive side of the ball. This game was never really in doubt. We said Sawyer Thompson and Ashton Moser would have to carry the mountain lions and SL held them to 21 and 7 respectively. The cardinals were paced by Eli Gover who poured in 22 then Jordan Mabe and Caden Jones who both scored 14. Pineville finished the game 16-35 from the field while South Laurel went 30-50. Now all eyes are on the cross town rivalry. 
 

Barbourville 68 Clay County 57

Good news for the Tigers? First region win since 2015 sets up a chance to punch their ticket to the 13th region finals. Bad news? The leading scorer Matthew Warren went down in the final minutes and was seen leaving the game on crutches. Warren scores 19 per game for the Tigers and if he can’t go that might spell trouble for Barbourville. But back to the win. Warren led the tigers with 25 points 7 boards 6 steals 2 assists and a block. Now to Clay County, they out rebounded Barbourville 30-20, however they also turned the ball over 20 times. Clay had four players finish in double digits but couldn’t take care of the ball enough in the second half to win this one. 
 

Corbin 61 Harlan County 53

After Harlan played North Laurel so close a lot of people started penciling in Harlan County as the region favorites. After all, they had the most wins. Had played good teams and beat them throughout the season. But Corbin had other plans for that. Led by freshman Eli Pietrowski with 20 and Carter Stewart with 11, the redhounds sent the second team from Harlan back packing. The Redhounds shot 21/46 while holding HC to 17/49 and out rebounded them by 6. Maddox Huff led the way for HC with 23 while Trent Noah had 22 and 10. Those two accounted for 45 of HCs 53 points. Corbin did an excellent job containing everyone else. 
 

Semi Final Matchups:

North Laurel Vs South Laurel: March 4th 6:00 

One of the best cross town rivalries in the state. North Laurel has won the past 5 against SL and won their only contest this season by 17. A lot of people say winning the first game is the toughest game. Will SL pull off the upset? Will the trio for NL have too much star power to let SL keep it close. In the first game these two played Reed, Davidson, and Chadwell had 55 of NLs 63 and played stifling defense that held SL to 46 on 35% shooting. This should be a great game tonight.

Barbourville vs Corbin: March 4th 7:30 PM

I think the story line behind this one is can Matthew Warren go for the tigers. He’s one of the more slept on players in the 13th and he makes things go. These two teams played a month ago and Corbin came away with a 2 point win in a game they were down the entire game. Warren led the way that game with 22. If Warren can’t go I’m not sure if the tigers have enough to keep it rolling. If he can, I expect a barn burner. Now onto the Redhounds. What’s fascinating about them is how deep and balanced they are. If you told me Llewelleyn only scored 6 and they beat Harlan County I’d have called you crazy. At any night Pietrowski, Stewart, Llewelleyn, Elam, Curry, or Warren can lead the way for these guys. Kade Elam led the hounds the first time these guys squared off and Llewellyn didn’t play. I look for Corbin to handle business and punch their ticket to the championship to face off against one of the Laurels.