WILLIAMSBURG — Two of the region’s top teams will face-off tonight when No. 6 Pineville goes up against No. 7 Whitley County.
Both teams bring in identical 4-1 records, and four game winning streaks.
Pineville, who is coached by Brad Levy, has wins over Cumberland Gap, Tenn. (72-39), Scott County (72-68), Red Bird (83-36), and Rye Cove, Va. (83-51). The Mountain Lions’ lone loss came against Clayton County (85-68) to open the season.
Eric Swords’ Colonels have wins over Lynn Camp (68-36), Knox Central (61-58), Garrard County (60-39), and Middlesboro (62-55). Whitley County’s loss came against Wayne County, a 47-45 setback on the road.
The Colonels have won the past two meetings between the two teams, including last season’s 82-69 victory. They’ve also won four out of the last five meetings while posting a 7-6 mark against the Mountain Lions dating back to 1998.
Pineville is led by one of the best duos in the state — Sawyer Thompson, and Ashton Moser.
Thompson leads his team with a 23.8 scoring average while shooting 51.8 percent from the floor. He also possesses a team-best 9.0 rebounding average.
Moser averages 21.6 points per game while pulling down 7.0 rebounds per game. He’s shooting 53.9 percent from the floor, and lead’s the Mountain Lions with 11 3-pointers, and a 40.7 shooting average from behind the arc.
Logunn Littles averages 8.2 points per game while Sam Caldwell averages 7.5 points per game. Kaiden Robbins (6.2), Wyatt Caldwell (6.0), Noah Slone (4.0), and Preston Zachery (3.3) are also expected to contribute.
Evan Ellis leads Whitley County with a 17.0 scoring average along with 12 3-pointers, and a 37.5 shooting percentage from 3-point range. He’s also averaging 3.8 rebounds per game.
Danny Ellis averages 9.0 points per game, and 3.6 boards per game while Bryce Anderson, and Lucas Queener each average 8.0 points per game. Queener leads Whitley County with an 8.2 rebounding average while Anderson pulls down 4.8 boards per game. Bryson Mahan averages 6.8 points per game while Jackson Petrey is averaging 6.4 points per game. Shane Parker averages 3.0 points per game while Aaron Roe averages 1.4 points per game.
