LONDON — South Laurel’s Josh Steele returned to the bench on Friday to support his teammates during their 50th District matchup against Corbin. Steele’s presence energized the Cardinals, who were seeking payback after a loss to the Redhounds a few weeks earlier.
South Laurel achieved that goal, defeating Corbin 56-35 and limiting the Redhounds to their lowest point total of the season.
“Liked how we responded tonight and our focus,” South Laurel coach Jeff Davis said. “Having Josh back around our guys was a huge deal for us. Just to see him sitting on the bench and being around him meant a lot.
“Just a great all-around team effort,” he added. “Bench play was huge for us tonight and hopefully we can continue to build on that.”
South Laurel improved to 14-6 with the win, and 4-1 against 50th District opponents. The Cardinals will play their final district game on Feb. 4 against Williamsburg.
The loss dropped Corbin to 13-6 overall, and 4-1 in district play. The Redhounds will play Whitley County on Feb. 4 in its final regular season district game.
Jordan Mabe led South Laurel with 18 points while Colton Rawlings scored 11 points and Max Fullmer finished with 10 points.
Ryder Akins led Corbin with 10 points while Dawson Farmer added seven points.
“Rough night for our team,” Corbin coach Tony Pietrowski said. “I thought we really battle for about two and a half quarters, but ultimately our inability to score allowed them to gap us. From that point, we broke down defensively.
“We shot the ball extremely poorly tonight,” he added. “Not characteristic of our team. Our shot selection combined with South’s defense contributed to that percentage. I’ll be interested to see how we react tomorrow. We have a very athletic and talented team coming in.”
Both teams will be in action Saturday.
The Cardinals will travel to Woodford County to play Bourbon County at 2:45 p.m. while the Redhounds will host Evangel Christian at 1 p.m.
