CORBIN —
By Les Dixon / Sports Editor
South Laurel coach Konnie Snyder didn’t know what to expect when her injury-plagued South Laurel Lady Cardinals traveled to play upstart Knox Central Thursday.
The Lady Cardinals (10-11) were without the services of Emily Clontz and Cassandra Johnson, but managed to play one of their best games of the season by upending the Lady Panthers, 55-47,while extending their win streak to six games in the process.
South Laurel only had four players score, but three of those scored in double figures, as senior guard Macy Clontz led the way with a game-high 25 points while Taylor Arthur had 15 and Bailey Miller finished the game with a 13-point effort.
“This was a big win for us,” Snyder said. “I think we have improved a lot. I was here a couple of days ago when they played Whitley County and I really didn’t know how we could handle their quickness.”
With the way things started for the Lady Cardinals, it looked as if South Laurel would struggle on offense after having to adjust for the first time this season without Bowling in the lineup.
Snyder’s squad misfired on its first 10 shots of the game and connected on only four-of-17 shot attempts from the floor in the first quarter, but found themselves tied at 12 apiece when the period ended.
“I thought we would struggle some early with our new lineup and we did,” Snyder admitted. “It was different for the girls and it took a while for us to get used to it.”
But once the Lady Cardinal players got in sync with each other, South Laurel was hard to stop. Plus it didn’t hurt matters that Knox Central’s Shakira Gregory was hit with her second foul early in the second quarter and had to sit the remainder of the first half on the bench.
“When Shakira got into foul trouble, we were able to take advantage of that,” Snyder said. “We wanted to get the ball to Taylor and we did, but we also wanted Macy to play more down low and she was able to do that.”
The duo of Arthur and Clontz combined to score 13 of the Lady Cardinals’ 16 points during the second quarter, as the Lady Cardinals built a 28-23 lead at halftime.
“Both Macy and Taylor have done that for us the entire year,” Snyder said. “They are our go-to people.”
South Laurel’s Miller was also a thorn in Knox Central’s side. She knocked down three three-pointers in the game and her long-range three-pointer with 5:30 remaining in the third quarter triggered an 8-2 run that saw the Lady Cardinals’ lead grow to 40-28.
“Bailey also stepped up and hit some big shots for us tonight,” Snyder said.
The Lady Panthers tried to rally in the fourth quarter and got as close as six points (50-44) with less than two minutes remaining, but South Laurel hit five-of-eight shot attempts from the free-throw line to put the game away.
The Lady Cardinals finished the game shooting 18-of-54 shot attempts from the floor while Knox Central (14-8) connected on only 19-of-59 shot attempts.
The Lady Cardinals will be back in action Saturday on the road against Casey County while the Lady Panthers will travel across town Saturday to face-off against 51st District rival Barbourville.
South Laurel 55, Knox Central 47
South Laurel 12 16 15 12 55
Knox Central 12 11 10 14 47
South Laurel (55) - Clontz 25, Arthur 15, Parker 2, Miller 13.
Knox Central (47) - Gregory 11, Barrett 11, Shippy 9, Mills 10, Carnes 4, McNeil 2.
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Related Photos
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South Laurel's Macy Clontz scored 25 points to lead the Lady Cardinals past Knox Central Thursday, 55-47. Photo by Les Dixon
Discussion
Six in a row
South Laurel stuns Knox Central at home with 55-47 win
- Local Sports
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South Laurel Sweeps
When it comes to a district championship game it doesn't get any better than a line drive down the third baseline with two outs to end the game, and that’s exactly what happened as the South Laurel Cardinals pulled off a 3-2 victory over Corbin in the 51st District Championship Wednesday.
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Knox Three-Peats
Not many people expected the Knox Central Lady Panthers to three-peat as the 51st District champions after graduating seven seniors from last season’s squad. But Barb Gregory’s squad proved all of their naysayers wrong by jumping out to a 5-0 lead and holding on in the end to knock off rival Barbourville, 8-4, on Wednesday.
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Clay County no match for defending region champs
Not playing a game in five days didn’t seem to bother the defending 13th Region champions any, as the North Laurel Lady Jaguars collected their seventh straight 49th District championship by defeating Clay County Wednesday, 9-0.
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Corbin advances
The three runs the Corbin Lady Redhounds scored during their first round matchup against rival Whitley County on Monday proved to be just enough when the contest picked up where it left off on Tuesday.
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Jaguars capture 49th District championship
The North Laurel Jaguars brought out their bats and made a lot of noise as they blasted by Jackson County and kept swinging until they were the 49th District champions with a 4-2 win over defending 13th Region champion Clay County.
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Maxey captures first AAU state championship
London’s Josh Maxey might be a sales rep by day, but during the evening, he’s turned into one of the top AAU coaches in the state.
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Barbourville's Back
The Barbourville Lady Tigers are back in the 13th Region Tournament for the second straight season after upending Lynn Camp 13-3 in five innings Monday during first round action of the 51st District Tournament.
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Lady Cards cruise past Williamsburg
The South Laurel Lady Cardinals survived a long lightning delay and managed to cruise past Williamsburg, 14-1, during the first round of the 50th District Tournament on Monday.
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Cardinals advance
A lightning delay and solid pitching by the Yellow Jackets managed to slow the Cardinals down some, but South Laurel was still able to pull away from Williamsburg for a 10-0 win in five innings during the first round of the 50th District Tournament on Monday.
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Young Lady Panthers reach title game
Barb Gregory’s Knox Central Lady Panthers braved Mother Nature and managed to pull out a convincing 11-1 win over Pineville in the first round of the 51st District Tournament Monday.
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