Pineville’s shaky start to the season continued on Thursday when the team traveled to Red Bird. A group still searching for an identity, the Mountain Lions lost to the Cardinals 61-45.

The defeat marks the second straight loss Pineville has suffered at the hands of a team they easily dispatched of a year ago. For Red Bird, the win ends a three game losing streak that began with a 77-53 loss to Jackson County on Dec. 1. The Cardinals only other victory of the season came against Thomas Walker.

Ben and Clay Goodin led the Mountain Lions in scoring as they combined for 17 points. Ben finished the game with a team-high nine points while hitting five of his six free throws. Clay ended the night with eight points while shooting 42.9 percent from the field. He also went 2-for-3 from long range.

Braxton Caldwell ended his night with five points. Josh Lawson, Chris Saylor and Marcus Estep added four points apiece to the scoreboard. Sophomore Brendan King lead the team in rebounds with eight.

Up Next

Pineville (1-3) returns to action at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday when they travel to Jackson County to take on Owsley County (3-0) in the PRTC Classic.

Red Bird (2-3) will travel to Middlesboro (1-2) at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

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Pineville (45): Josh Lawson 4, Ben Goodin 9, Clay Goodin 8, Chris Saylor 4, Brendan King 1, Marcus Estep 4, Jonathan Simpson 3, C. Baker 2, Braxton Caldwell 5, Hayden Callebs 3, Matt Golden 2.

Reach Anthony Cloud at 606-302-9090 or on Twitter @AnthonyCloudMDN