Basketball

The Whitley County Lady Colonels had a tough weekend, first traveling to North Laurel and falling in a very competitive game against the Lady Jaguars, 67-64. Less than a day later, they were back on the court, this time at the University of the Cumberlands’ O. Wayne Rollins Center against the visiting Harrison County Fillies. This was another very close contest, but the Colonels would emerge as the victors this time, winning 39-36. “I like the progress we’re making,” said Whitley Head Coach David Estes after Saturday’s game at UC. “We’re definitely better defensively than we were a couple of weeks ago. Last night, against North Laurel, we had some defensive...

After a big win over Harrison County at the University of the Cumberlands’ O. Wayne Rollins Center Saturday afternoon, Whitley County Lady Colonel senior Destiny Kinder spent some time offering her thoughts for this week’s Senior Spotlight. Kinder, who actually turned 19 on the day of the interview, said of being the Lady Colonels’ only senior player this year, “It’s a little much. I’m not used to this, but my co-captains are helping me out. It’s still a lot on me, but I’m just taking it step-by-step.” Kinder has been dressing at the varsity level for the past three seasons. When asked how the program has evolved in that amount of...

You know Corbin. You know Whitley County. But what about the other six teams that will be appearing in this year’s Cumberland Falls Invitational Tournament? Let’s take a few moments to meet each of them now. Out of the 13th Region, 51st District, both the Knox Central Panthers and the Barbourville Tigers will both be involved in the 2016 CFIT, scheduled to get underway Tuesday, Dec 21, at Corbin High School. The Panthers have gotten off to a great start this season, going 4-1 ahead of a trip to Boca Raton, FL to play in the Rock Holiday Classic. They are loaded with talent, and are looking like an early favorite...

Three former Lady Hounds and one former Lady Colonel are currently playing together at the University of the Cumberlands as JV Lady Patriots. Corbin’s Natalye Gallagher and Meghann Blackburn graduated with the class of 2015. They were members of the 2012-13 and 2013-14 girls basketball teams that won 50th District and 13th Region championships. As seniors in 2014-15, they helped lead the team to an 18-12 overall record, as well as another district title. Candice Gulley graduated from Corbin with the class of 2016 after helping the Lady Hounds to yet another district championship season. Brandi Smith graduated from Whitley County High School in 2014. As the Lady Colonels’ go-to scorer, she...

Things have not gone as well as the Corbin Lady Hounds hoped they would to start out the 2016-17 season, but brighter days are surely ahead for this talented group. Leading the way are three senior players with a wealth of knowledge in the sport – Kameryn Ashurst, Sarah Beth Price and Tori Baker. Ashurst, 17, has been playing basketball since her elementary school days, and when asked to talk about her history with the game, she explained, “I started out playing in rec and church leagues, and then I got to play for the middle school team. I played up on the seventh and eighth grade teams as a...

Boys Basketball Wrap Up for 12/7/16... The Corbin Redhounds impressed in their season opener last Friday night, defeating a tough Mercer County team in this year’s Legacy Nissan Classic at North Laurel High School. “I’m really proud of my team,” said Head Coach Tony Pietrowski after the win. “I thought we did a whole lot of things well, and now we can hang our hats on beating a really good team.” “We weren’t real fluid offensively early on in the game,” Pietrowski continued. “But I feel like we really bought in defensively, and we were able to negate a lot of the things that they were trying to do. It was a...

Girls Basketball Wrap Up for the week of 12/7/16... The Whitley County Lady Colonels started their winter campaign off right last Tuesday, easily defeating the visiting Jellico Lady Blue Devils in their season opener. They followed that up with another win at home against 13th Region opponent Barbourville on Thursday, and on Saturday they traveled to Berea and came away with the 46-34 victory to improve to a perfect 3-0 ahead of their Tuesday night matchup against 50th District rival South Laurel (see Tuesday Night Highlights in print). Juniors Abbey Estes and Sierra Feltner and sophomore Kaelie Frazier have all been big point producers for the Lady Colonels so far this...

The Whitley County girls and boys basketball teams started off their seasons off right Tuesday night, defeating Jellico, TN in double header action. The girls were up first, cruising to a 61-16 victory to start the season out at 1-0. "We're testing those habits that we hope we learned in the preseason," said Head Coach David Estes after the game. "We want to be better defensively, pressuring the basketball and making it difficult for teams to initiate their offense. Also, rebounding the basketball. Those are things that we have struggled with at times, but I feel like we have made improvements in those areas. The score tonight wasn't really that...

The Williamsburg Lady Jackets basketball team put up a good fight Monday in their season opener, but they would ultimately end up on the losing end against the visiting Rockcastle County Lady Rockets, 57-44. “There is a lot to build on,” said new Head Coach Randy Crider after the game. “What we told them is we need to take the things that we did out here tonight, and take it right into our practices.” “We need to continue to work each and every day, and we need to continue to fight. Basically, we have no choice but to get better.” The Jackets started out shaky Monday, finding themselves down 15-4 early in...

In 2013 the News Journal’s inaugural NIBROC 3-on-3 basketball tournament featured eight teams. That number jumped up to 18 in year two, followed by 11 teams in year three. This year, the tournament set a new record for participation with a total of 23 teams converging at the Princess Vermillion McBurney Recreation Center in Corbin to see who would be crowned as the champions of the fourth annual event. Former Williamsburg Yellow Jacket Corey Shelton captained a team that won 2015’s tournament, and he was back this year to defend his crown alongside teammates Andrew Griffith and Aaron Cunningham. Shelton’s team, “The Blazers,”advanced all the way to the semifinals of the...