JACKSON WHO
Corbin coach Jennifer Parsons may have been a little surprised at the outcome of her team’s game against Jackson County Monday night in McKee. The Lady Redhounds jumped out to a 19-4 lead in the first quarter and never looked back in rolling past the Generals, 62-30.
The Lady Generals are on a three-game skid after losing to South Laurel (77-42), Franklin County (71-44) and Corbin, but it is the same team that beat Bell County 69-63 and lost to Clay County 59-51 on January 12.
“I think we took the tempo of this game and made things go our way from the start,” said Parsons. “We failed to do that against North Laurel Friday night, we let them slow us down and I felt like tonight, they (Jackson County) were a very similar team in the way they play.”
“They don’t come up and pressure you on full court, they play you half-court man or in a zone and I felt we did a better job running the floor and getting things going,” said Parsons.
“Defensively, I think we did a good job keeping (Kourtney) Tyra off the penetration,” said Parsons. “She’s an excellent point guard and really generates their offense when she can penetrate down the lane.”
“Mikkah (Rogers) did a good job forcing her to give the ball up,” said Parsons.
Corbin (15-6) grabbed the lead right off the bat and never looked back. Senior Brittany Jackson opened the scoring with a three point play that put the Redhounds ahead 3-0.
The game was tied at 4-4 when the Redhounds went on a 15-0 run to end the first quarter. Freshman Kelci Jones put the Redhounds ahead for good when she hit one of two free throws at the 4:25 mark.
Rogers followed with a three pointer from the corner and Abby Baylor scored on a jumper in the lane and Corbin led 10-4 when Jackson County coach Robert Lakes called a time-out.
A turnover gave the ball back to Corbin and Jackson was fouled on a three-point play. She hit the first two free throws but missed the third. Baylor grabbed the rebound and put it back for what turned out to be a four-point trip at the Corbin end of the court. Baylor’s basket pushed the Redhounds ahead by ten, 14-4.
Junior Sara Grega and Rogers closed out the quarter with the next five points and Corbin led by 15 at the firs stop.
Tyra tried to get her team back on the right track as she hit a free throw and nailed a three-pointer to close the gap to 11 points (19-8) but a 6-0 run by Jackson, Jones and Kendra Igo pushed the Corbin lead to 17 points, 25-8.
Jackson County (10-10) never got any closer as Corbin went on to take a 35-12 lead at the half.
Corbin was five of eight from the line in the first quarter and Parsons said that contributed to the win. “We were taking it inside and drawing some early fouls,” said Parsons. “That was something we did not do well with North Laurel.”
“We made things happen tonight,” said Parsons. “And, that was the difference in this game.”
Corbin was led by Rogers and Jackson with 14 points each. Jones added 10 points to the Redhounds cause. Tyra had 14 points for the Generals.
The Lady Redhounds will have a week off before they finish district action against Williamsburg, Tuesday, February 6.
Corbin 62, Jackson Co. 30
Corbin 19 16 9 18- 62
Jackson Co. 4 8 8 10- 30
Corbin (62) – Rogers 14, Jackson 14, Baylor 6, Jones 10, Igo 6, Grove 4, Grega 2, Blanton 4, Sutton 2.
Jackson Co. (30) – Tyra 14, Bingham 7, Martin 3, Hill 1, Carpenter 2, Lanigan 3.
Corbin 38, North Laurel 33
North Laurel 8 6 7 12- 33
Corbin 10 4 7 17- 38
North Laurel (33) – Jackson 8, Bargo 5, Harris 10, Strange 8, Pritchard 2.
Corbin (38) – Jackson 14, Rogers 10, Jones 9, Grove 4, Grega 1.