Jaguar Classic: Lincoln boys fall to Corbin 70-57
Published 12:28 pm Thursday, January 25, 2018
Photos by Nancy Leedy BRYSON YADEN of Lincoln County gets in front of Brody Barton of Corbin to grab this second-half rebound in the Patriots’ 70-57 loss to the Redhounds Saturday night in the Jaguar Classic at East Jessamine High School.
NICHOLASVILLE — After a close battle through two and a half quarters of play, the Lincoln County boys fell 70-57 to Corbin in the Jaguar Classic played Saturday at East Jessamine High School.
The loss was the third straight for the Patriots as they fell to 9-11 overall. Corbin improved to 14-3 overall as the Redhounds picked up their sixth straight win.
Freshman Spencer Baird led Lincoln with 14 points and junior Blake Smith followed close behind with 13 points, but Corbin senior Chandler Stewart outscored them both, leading the Redhounds to victory with a game-high 33 points. Chase Sanders, a junior, also hit double figures for Corbin, finishing with 15 points.
Lincoln and Corbin traded leads a few times in the first half with Corbin owning the first lead off a game-opening 3-pointer by Stewart. Jaxon Smith would answer with his own 3-pointer for Lincoln and Blake Smith followed with a bucket off a steal to edge the Patriots in front 5-3.
Matthew Taylor tied the game with a bucket in the paint, the first of three ties in the period.
Baird talllied twice for the Pats to make it 7-7 and 9-9 before Corbin broke on a 5-0 run. Easton Peck drained a 3 to open the run then Stewart followed with a layup for a 12-9 margin. However, Lincoln would put up the final points of the period, with Chase Phillips converting on two free throws and Baird closing with a field goal to get the Patriots within 14-13.
Phillips drove inside for a basket to start the second quarter to nose Lincoln back on top, 15-14. But Corbin, which shot 61 percent the first half compared to 43 percent for Lincoln, answered right back with Sanders getting his own bucket in the paint to put the Redhounds on top to stay, 16-15. Sanders scored seven of his 15 points in the second quarter, including a 3-pointer midway through the period for a 23-18 margin.
Corbin’s lead wavered between three and six points over the remainder of the half. Frye scored a layup off a steal after Sanders’ three to make it 23-20 and Baird nailed a 3-pointer late for a 29-26 ballgame. Braden Dickerson got the final bucket of the period and Stewart sank two free throws to give Corbin a 33-28 lead at the half.
The Redhounds’ defense held the Patriots to just four field goals in the third quarter as they grew their lead to double digits. The 3’s rained down early, with Corbin’s Stewart and Sanders each nailing a trey and Lincoln’s Jaxon Smith also going long. The Patriots kept the margin in single digits until the 1:34 mark of the period when Stewart drove inside for a bucket and a 46-35 Corbin lead.
Darius Napier converted on a three-point play late in the third to get the margin back into the single digits but Stewart would drive inside to close the period and make it 48-38.
A Bryson Yaden three-point play, back-to-back Blake Smith 3-pointers and buckets by Napier, Yaden and Jaxon Smith over a three-minute span in the fourth quarter helped Lincoln whittle a 15-point deficit down to seven points, 60-53.
However, the Patriots’ game plan to send the Redhounds to the foul line to try and cut further into the deficit would backfire as Corbin toed the line and sank 13 of 17 free throw attempts, including 11 of 13 from Stewart, to put the game away.
Corbin finished at 18-for-22 from the foul line. Stewart was 15-for-17. Lincoln was 9-for-17 at the line.
The Redhounds finished at 56 percent from the field, going 23-for-41. The Patriots shot 42 percent, going 21-for-50.
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Jaguar Classic
at East Jessamine H.S.
Lincoln 13 15 10 19 – 57
Corbin 14 19 15 22 – 70
LINCOLN (9-11) – Bryson Yaden 5, Blake Smith 13, Elijah Frye 5, Jaxon Smith 8, Chase Phillips 6, Darius Napier 6, Spencer Baird 14.
CORBIN (14-3) – Easton Peck 3, Chase Sanders 15, Chandler Stewart 33, Jacob Unthank 5, Matthew Taylor 4, Braden Dickerson 2, Alex Byrley 4, Brody Barton 4.
