CORBIN — The Whitley County Lady Colonels improved to 4-2 on the season with a 53-41 victory over Martin County in the Redhound Christmas Bash.
Whitley County knocked down seven 3-pointers in the win and placed three players in double figures, but it wasn’t easy early. The Lady Colonels got off to a slow start and trailed 9-4 at the end of the first quarter. Whitley County found a rhythm in the second quarter, hitting four 3-pointers, but still went into halftime trailing 29-24.
The momentum shifted after the break. Jonna Rice scored 12 points in the third quarter while Maddie Hopkins added four as Whitley County surged ahead, taking a 40-33 lead into the fourth quarter. Hopkins followed with six more points in the final eight minutes, and Lydia Hale knocked down a key 3-pointer as the Lady Colonels pulled away late.
Hopkins led Whitley County with 16 points, Rice finished with 14, and freshman Aubrey Fore added 10 points.
“It was good to grind out a win,” Whitley County coach Ronnie Collier said. “We came out and struggled in the first half. Coach Newsome does a great job, and she had her girls prepared. We were finally able to make a few shots, and started doing a better job crashing the boards. Jonna and Maddy were able to get going offensively in the second half, and that helped us gap them.
“Freshman Aubrey Fore also had a nice game scoring her career with 10 points,” Collier added. “We are making a lot of mistakes that young teams make, but we have a great group of girls, and we’ll keep working to get better. We have a tough task ahead of us tomorrow as we take on North Laurel. Go Colonels.”
