WILLIAMSBURG — Whitley County built a big first-half lead and then withstood a late Corbin rally to pull out a 59–56 win Tuesday in a key 50th District matchup.
The victory improved the Colonels to 14–5 overall and 2–1 in district play, while Corbin slipped to 7–8 on the season and 2–1 against district opponents.
“Great win for our guys,” Whitley County coach Eric Swords said. “Levi had a great game offensively, Dee had a tremendous game defensively hold Evan to 2. All our guys stepped in there and made great plays. We battled foul trouble all night and just gutted out a win. Hopefully we can get Riley back soon from his injury and make a push in the second half of district games.”
Whitley County came out firing, jumping to a 19–10 lead after the first quarter and extending the margin to 38–24 by halftime. Corbin battled back in the third quarter, trimming the deficit to just one point at 45–44 entering the fourth.
The Colonels responded in the final eight minutes, getting seven points from Tootie Mahan and five more from Levi Jackson to close out the win.
Jackson led Whitley County with a game-high 26 points, knocking down five three-pointers. Mahan followed with 18 points, and Garrett Sharp added seven.
Corbin was led by Eli Pietrowski with 20 points. Trey Person finished with 17, and Lucas Brittain chipped in 11.
“Let them gap us early,” Corbin coach Tony Pietrowski said. “We can’t do that against quality opponents. Battled our way back into in the third, but didn’t finish the job. Too many missed assignments & poor execution to win these types of games. Hats off to Coach Swords and his team, they deserved the win. We will get back after and hopefully be better for it in the long run.”
