HARD-NOSED VICTORY- South Laurel capitalizes late to defeat Barbourville

The Cardinals were back in action after a 69-25 victory over the Williamsburg Yellow Jackets in district play. Barbourville, coached by Chris Taylor, would travel to SLHS for a region matchup. A scrappy contest would ultimately lead to a 59-43 South Laurel victory.

“First off, you have to give Coach Taylor and his staff credit. They had them ready to play and they never stop coming. They play hard and are a really good basketball team”, said Coach Davis. “We didn’t play well, especially in the first half. We didn’t follow the scouting report, we weren’t patient, and we had way too many unforced turnovers. We just made mistakes that we have not been making”.

Davis was much happier about the performance of his squad in the final part of the contest. “Second half I thought we took care of the ball better and were able to knock down some shots. I thought Hunter and Josh really played well when we needed them to most. Hunter made huge defensive and hustle plays. Josh finally just cut loose and played physically and wasn’t thinking as much. Caden and Eli made some huge shots when we had to have them, especially with some guys in foul trouble”.

Hunter Bundy led his team physically when entering the game. His presence helped his squad scrap and claw when the game picked up intensity. “We won the physical game by bringing the physicality to them. We were able to play more physically than them, which allowed us to get open looks all other the court. We needed this game against a scrappy Barbourville team to help us prepare for an even more physical Corbin team on Friday”, exclaimed Bundy.

A talented Corbin squad will travel to London for another district game Friday night. Coach Davis mentioned, “Friday we will have another huge test for us. This is a big district game, and we played them just 10 days ago. We must be more mentally prepared and be ready to grind it out possession by possession. If we don’t come ready to match their physicality, then it will be a long night”.

Gover added that his team has to, “keep taking care of the ball and limiting our turnovers”, to win Friday. “We have to play with more confidence on the offensive end. Friday night we must do better staying out of foul trouble”.

South will prepare for their big district rival matchup against Corbin this Friday, January 20th. Tipoff is set for 7:30 pm. With a South Laurel win, the two teams would split their record with one win apiece against each other in district play.

Scoring: Jones 15, Gover 14, Garland 10, Payne 9, Mabe 7, Steele 4

-Dylan Wilson, SL Basketball Media