In a game that looked like it was well on its way to being a blowout, a young Pineville boys basketball team showed resilience. Barbourville led by as much as 11 points in the first half before the Mountain Lions began chipping away at the lead.

Pineville narrowed the deficit to as little as two points in the fourth quarter before a Barbourville run at the end of the game sealed a 57-47 defeat on Tuesday. It was the Mountain Lions’ fourth consecutive loss since earning a six-point victory over Oneida, Tennessee.

“We are certainly getting experience on getting back up,” said Pineville coach JD Strange. “Our young kids are playing hard. I feel like our goal is to get better. I think we are getting a little bit better. We just didn’t make some good plays at crucial times late.

“We fought the whole game. We got ourselves back in a competitive situation. We’re still looking out of consistency from our kids. We had some kids that didn’t get the playing time tonight that they had in the past, but the kids that came in picked up the slack and was doing pretty well. We’re still looking, we’re still getting better and we’re going to keep improving. Those that hang in there with us will see a brighter day ahead.”

Clay Goodin led Pineville offensively with 13 points while shooting 40 percent from the field. Josh Lawson chipped in 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting. Reed Baker led the team in rebounds with a game-high seven boards.

Christian Bunch scored a game-high 16 points for Barbourville. He also grabbed a team-high five rebounds. Connor Bain tallied 11 points, while Trenton Schall added 10 points from the bench.

The Tigers raced out to an 8-2 lead midway through the first with a pair of free throws from Jacob Helton. Lawson scored a pair of buckets around a Barbourville basket to narrow the lead to 10-7.

Barbourville ended the first with a 7-0 run that was capped by a Rex Miller 3-pointer to give the Tigers a 19-10 lead at the end of the first.

The Tigers lead grew to 11 points twice in the second quarter. A John McVey 3-pointer gave Barbourville a 30-19 lead over midway through the period. After Pineville narrowed the deficit, Bunch nailed a jumper to increase the lead to 32-21.

A Schall jumper at the buzzer gave the Tigers a 35-27 lead at the end of the half.

After swapping baskets early in the third, Pineville cut the lead to four, 40-36, with baskets from Goodin and Lawson. Barbourville responded with a 6-0 run that gave the Tigers a 10-point lead, 46-36.

Barbourville was able to maintain the 10-point lead going into the fourth after Creg Gray was fouled from three-point range at the buzzer. He hit two of his three attempts to give the Tigers a 48-38 lead.

The Mountain Lions opened the fourth with a pair of free throws from Goodin and a layup from Ben Goodin to cut the margin to 48-42. A 3-pointer by Lawson with 4:10 remaining cut the lead to 49-47.

A 3-pointer by Schall returned the Tiger lead to five, 52-47. Coming out of a timeout with 1:59 to go, Pineville ran a minute off the clock attempting to find an open shot. The Barbourville defense held strong with Lawson having to settle for a contested 3-pointer that bounced off the rim.

The Tigers hit their free throws down the stretch to claim the 10-point victory.

Up Next

Pineville (3-9) travels to Thomas Walker on Thursday before hosting Knox Central (12-1) at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Barbourville (7-7) will host Lynn Camp on Friday.

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Barbourville 57, Pineville 47

BARBOURVILLE (7-7)

Connor Bain 5-7 1-1 11, Christian Bunch 4-7 6-10 16, JD McVey 2-7 0-0 6, Jacob Helton 2-2 2-2 6, Shawn Vaugn 0-1 3-6 3, Trenton Schall 4-7 2-4 10, Creg Gray 0-1 2-5 2, Rex Miller 1-1 0-0 3. Totals: 18-33 16-28 57.

PINEVILLE (3-9)

Clay Goodin 4-10 1-5 13, Josh Lawson 5-12 0-1 12, Braxton Caldwell 0-7 0-2 0, Ben Goodin 4-4 2-2 10, Landon Couch 1-1 0-0 2, Reed Baker 3-4 0-0 6, Chris Saylor 1-6 2-2 4, Hayden Callebs 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 18-45 8-14 57.

Barbourville 19 16 13 9 — 57

Pineville 10 17 11 9 — 47

3-point goals: Barbourville 5-14 (Bunch 2-4, McVey 2-4, Miller 1-1, Schall 0-2, Bain 0-2 Gray 0-1), Pineville 3-16 (Lawson 2-5, C. Goodin 1-5, Caldwell 0-4, Saylor 0-2). Rebounds: Barbourville 26 (Bunch 5), Pineville 32 (Baker 7).

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