LONDON — Harlan senior guard Kyler McLendon is, undoubtedly, one of the 13th Region’s elite players. It’s clear, however, that McLendon’s going to need some more help from his teammates if the Green Dragons are going to beat the region’s top teams.
McLendon poured in 29 points on Wednesday in the opening round of the Dribble Drive Challenge at South Laurel, but it wasn’t enough match the balanced Corbin attack as the Hounds won 64-44. Senior forward Trey Worley scored 22 points to lead the Hounds, followed by Eli Pietrowski with 13 points, Zander Curry with nine and Carter Stewart with eight.
“We’ve got to do a better job of getting those guys involved,” Harlan coach Derrick Akal said. “Kyler’s points are fool’s gold because we’re 1-4 with those points. We’ve got get some other guys contributing.”
Harlan struggled offensively much of the night, shooting 29 percent (16 of 56) from the field.
“You can’t shoot that bad against one of the best teams in the region,” Akal said. “We are always confident we can get the shots off we work on in practice, but they just have to go in.”
Corbin also owned a big advantage on the boards, outrebounding Harlan 42-24, leading to a 27-7 advantage in free throw attempts
“We’ve struggled on the boards the last few games. We’ve got some new guys in there who are still learning what they need to do,” Akal said. “Corbin turned a lot of those second shots into points.”
Corbin scored the game’s first eight points, but Harlan fought back to cut the deficit to 16-12 by the end of the period despite hitting only four of 17 shots.
McLendon heated up in the second quarter with three 3-pointers, reeling off eight straight points at one point as the Dragons took a 28-23 lead. Corbin recovered as Curry and Connor Blackburn each hit 3-pointers in an 11-0 run to close the half to give the Hounds a 34-28 lead at the half.
Harlan missed its first five shots in the second half as the Hounds built an 11-point lead. McLendon had all three of Harlan’s baskets in the quarter as Corbin took a 46-38 lead into the final period.
McLendon had all three Harlan baskets in the fourth period as the Hounds continued to pull away, closing with a 16-2 run after the Dragons cut the deficit to six with six minutes to play.
Corbin (3-0) will play Christian Academy-Louisville at 7:30 on Thursday in the tournament semifinals. Harlan (1-4) will take on Mason County at 2:15 in the consolation bracket.