Chelsey Smith is going to get her points one way or another for the Lady Lions and she put up 32 Monday. But there’s another secret weapon that Coach Russell Thompson lets out of his bag of tricks every now and then — her name is Chatman Taylor.
Barbourville found out early how good she is as Taylor came out on fire. She scored the first 8 points of the game and totaled 10 points in the first quarter.
Smith also went off in the first quarter with 13 points as Pineville built a 23-11 lead.
The Lady Lions led 30-20 at the half and took a 39-31 edge into the fourth quarter.
The final quarter was well worth the price of admission. It was a free for all. Not only did Neysa Kelly and Ashley Banfield got hot for Barbourville and The Lady Tigers turned up the defensive pressure and forced mass turnovers.
Banfield and Kelly cashed them into points over the first three and a half minutes of the frame as they brought their team within 2 of the Lady Lions at 47-45.
Chatman Taylor was once again keeping her team’s head above water during this scoring spurt with two baskets of her own. Up by two points, Chelsey Smith took over.
She hit a 3, then converted an old fashioned three-point play. She followed that with a nice dime after a steal to Taylor for Taylor’s 18th point of the game to put the Lady Lions up by 9.
The young Pineville girls hit their free throws down the stretch as they pulled away to win by 13.
Pineville (16-12) will play the winner of Knox Central (7-18) Thursday night at Barbourville for the District Championship. The win also puts them in next week's regional tournament.
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Pineville 23 7 9 25 – 64
Barbourville 11 8 11 21 – 51
Pineville (64) – Chelsey Smith 32, Chatman Taylor 18, Brittany Smith 8, Whitney Partin 4, Kristen Brock 2.
Barbourville (51) – Ashley Banfield 15, Neysa Kelly 12, Amber Johnson 9, Teena Grubb 8, Kelsey Smith 7.
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