13th Region Tournament Recap and Championship Preview

[DearToday]

Region Tournament:
Here’s a recap of the Region Tournament games played so far, and a look into the region championship. Been a great season so far, and the ending should be a great game!

 

Game 1: Knox Central 72 North Laurel 65
This was a game I thought North Laurel was going to rebound to win and I was wrong. Knox shot 60%, 50% from three, and beat the jaguars on the boards. Grayson Burton went for 20, Braydon Mills 14 with 4 threes, Evan Hubbard had 13, and big man Gavin Chadwell had 11 and 9. Meanwhile the Jaguars shot 46%. Krish Patel led the way with 16, Kole Jervis 15, and Brody Brock and Reece Davidson finished with 13. North finished the season 17-16 but had two back to back losses that have to be disappointing. North Laurel will lose Brody Brock, Cole Messer, Krish Patel, and Dawsen Walker to graduation. Brody Brock scored the most points for the Jaguars this year so he will be a big loss. 

Game 2: Corbin 60 Bell County 43
The Redhounds coasted to a win in this one behind the shooting of Carter Stewart. He had missed a lot of this year, but was big in the opening matchup. He finished with 21 behind 4 threes. Eli Pietrowski and Zander Curry both had 10 in the matchup. Corbin had seven players get in the scoring column. Zander and Eli both had double doubles as Eli pulled down 16 boards and Zander grabbed 10. The Bobcats finished their season with a 25-8. Ethan Buell had 20 and Blake Burnett had 10 in the loss. Buell also had 7 boards. The bad news for Bell is they started to sputter towards the end of the year going 3-4 in their last seven games. The good news is that Coach Brad Sizemore has zero seniors on this years team and only one junior. This is a young group that should be here to stay in the years to come. 

Game 3: Harlan County 38 South Laurel 34
This was the matchup everyone was looking forward to when the brackets were released in the 13th and it lived up to the hype. South Laurel took the air out of the ball and each possession was intentional. The stats aren’t up on KHSAA, but from watching it via WYMT I know Trent Noah did what he does and he led the way for HC. Jordan Mabe did the best job I’ve seen from someone this year in limiting Noah. The supporting cast for Harlan Co did a good job at knocking down pivotal shots. The ending sequences of the game consisted of South Laurel stealing an inbounds down two, then Jordan Mabe just missing a go ahead 3 in the final seconds. Harlan County got the rebound and knocked down two freebies to win it. South Laurel finished their season 19-11 and they graduate one player who didn’t see too much time. South Laurel should be at the top of the 13th next year with Jordan Mabe leading the way. 

Game 4: Clay County 80 Pineville 50
I said I’d take Clay by 20+ and they won by 30. This one was never in question. Clay was up 19-4 in the first and kept their foot on the gas. Ten players scored for the Tigers, and Hayden Harris and Elijah Bundy led the way with 17. Pineville’s two headed monster got the job done but they didn’t get much help outside of those two. Ashton Moser finished with 22 and Sawyer Thompson had 19. The Mountain Lions finish their season 20-11 and graduate Sam and Wyatt Caldwell, and Logan LIttles. They should be competitive in the 51st again next year with Moser and Thompson back for their senior years.

Game 5: Corbin 68 Knox Central 56
When the bracket was released I thought Corbin would be the favorite to come out the top of the bracket and they did. They were led by Zander Curry in this one as he put up 21 and 7. He’s been the heart and soul of the Redhounds, and if you followed their football team this year you wouldn’t be surprised to read that. Carter Stewart had 14 points and 6 assists, and Ryder Adkins had 13 points. Knox fought hard but was ultimately plagued by foul trouble most of the game and could never really get anything going. After getting a questionable third foul call with 4:45 in the second quarter, big man Gavin Chadwell lost his composure and picked up a technical which gave him four fouls in the second quarter. Knox ended up with two other starters with 3 fouls before the half as well. Knox cut the deficit to 2 in the third quarter, but Corbin ultimately pulled away. One year removed from going 4-26, Knox finishes the season 22-10. They will have to find a way to replace Gavid Chadwell and Braydon Mills, but this is a roster that dressed 6 middle schoolers so the future is bright. 

Game 6: Harlan County 66 Clay County 60
After a thrilling game 1, Harlan County managed to have an even more exciting game 2. Down by 9 in the third quarter, Harlan County needed someone to step up. That’s when the 13th region player of the year did so. Noah scored 16 of the Black Bears 19 fourth quarter points. No play was bigger than when he drilled two free throws to put them up 4, had a two handed block on Clay, then drilled two more to ice the game with under 30 seconds left. Noah finished with 43 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, and 3 blocks. Domination. Clay finished their season with a 24-9 record, and had the 13th region favorite on the ropes but couldn’t deliver the knockout blow. As a fan of 13th region hoops, it was great seeing Clay back this season and in my opinion I think they’re probably going to be the second best team in the 13th when this tournament is over. Adon Grubb led the way in the loss with 15, Hayden Harris had 14, and Jerrod Roark had 13. Clay loses Elijah Bundy, Hayden Harris, and Tate Rice to graduation, but Grubb is just a freshman and Roark a JR. The tigers look to be back.
 

13th Region Championship, Monday Night 7:00 at The Corbin Arena:
Harlan County (30-4) vs. Corbin (23-8)
Series in 2023-24: Harlan Co 59 Corbin 53 Jan 5th
Series Overall in the Region Tournament (since 1997/98): Harlan County leads 3-2. Harlan County won the 13th over Corbin in 2017, but Corbin knocked out Harlan County last year. 

These two played January 5th at Corbin. Harlan County finished with the win behind Trent Noahs 31. Caleb Johnson had 13, Reggie Cottrell 6, Maddox Huff 5, and Jaycee Carter 4. Maddox Huff struggled going 1-12, and it’s hard to see that happening again when these two teams meet. With that being said, you’d have to believe Coach P will have a game plan made to limit Noah and not let him single handedly will the Black Bears to the win. HC’s coach mentioned that Cottrell could have possibly broken his wrist in the game with Clay, so that will be something to monitor as Harlan County doesn’t have a big rotation. They usually play around 6 players tops. Corbin was led by Zander Curry in the loss who had 14 and 7. Eli P had 12, Carter Stewart 8, Trey Worley 7, Ryder Adkins 7, and Connor Middleton 5. Corbin shot 72% from the line this game. Both of these teams tend to struggle from the line, so that may be the underlying factor of this game. Corbin doesn’t really have a star player like the Black Bears, but they have a lot of solid players that play their role. None other IMO more important than Zander Curry. I think he will go as the team goes. When these two teams play each other, there’s usually fireworks and it’s usually a battle. I was at the game in 2017 when Corbin was heavy favorites and Harlan County shot the lights out to pull off the upset. This should be a great game that goes down to the wire. I will take Harlan County led by one of the states top players in Trent Noah to pull out the win. 

 

Ranking the teams that were in the Region Tournament: 

1. Harlan County (30-4)
 

2. Corbin (23-8)
 

3. Clay County (24-9)
 

4. South Laurel (19-11)
 

5. Knox Central (22-10)
 

6. Bell County (25-8)
 

7. North Laurel (17-16)
 

8. Pineville (20-11)

[Waterboy70]

Great region coverage. I believe HC has its easiest game of the tournament in the championship and coasts. If Corbin has a chance Curry will have to play the best game of his career(and he could, good kid). As far as next year goes 2 big rumors are already flying regarding Clay losing a player and Mabe moving to Huntington Prep with his AAU teammate. As always the offseason are wild.

[ACfan4]

Where will this game be broadcast? Any live streams?

[DearToday]

22 minutes ago, ACfan4 said:

Where will this game be broadcast? Any live streams?

WYMT has broadcasted all the games so far so I'd expect them to do this one as well. They've done a good job. Go to WYMT.com then click the sports section and it's been the first one. 

[Waterboy70]

3 hours ago, ACfan4 said:

Where will this game be broadcast? Any live streams?

If WYMT doesn't broadcast(which they are to my knowledge) you can join the 13thregionmedianetwork on Facebook for the Audio cast.