The Pineville seniors exited the floor on Friday with a nice feather in their cap. Rebounding from a lopsided defeat to Middlesboro just three days earlier, the Mountain Lions used a strong second-half performance to hand Owsley County a 58-44 defeat.

Seniors Ben Goodin and Matt Golden put on good performances for Pineville. Goodin scored a game-high 19 points for the Lions while also leading the team with six rebounds. Golden tallied 13 points while shooting 66.7 percent from the field.

While Cameron Fuson didn’t light up the scoreboard or pad the stat sheet, he did attempt to wow the crowd with a baseline dunk in the fourth quarter that came up just short.

“I’m just really proud of the seniors. Two of the three have been here since freshmen and even sophomore seasons. (I) just couldn’t ask for better kids. They’re effort is always there,” said Pineville coach James David Strange. “They’re very coachable. (They’re) just quality people, and that’s bigger than basketball. I’m just proud to have the opportunity to have a part in their high school careers.

“Cameron (Fuson) came in this year. He hadn’t played a whole lot. He’s a great athlete. He’s another great kid that we loved to have. We just wish we had him a little longer if we could have. They did great tonight. I’m proud of them. They’ve been a joy to coach.”

Junior Clay Goodin also put on quite the performance tallying 12 points on 3-for-9 shooting. He went a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.

Andrew Noe led the Owls tying for a game-high 19 points on eight baskets. Austin Evans also reached double figures ending the night with 10 points.

Pineville held a 37-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Shade Neace opened the quarter with a free throw to narrow the deficit to eight (37-29). Following a basket from Clay Goodin, Neace hit a floater to cut the lead to 39-31 with just over six minutes to play.

The Lions extended the lead back to double digits after Braxton Caldwell capped a 6-0 run with a pair of free throws to increase the lead to 45-31.

The game continued to go back-and-forth until Owsley County coach Gary Bowling was called for a technical with 1:48 remaining in regulation. Ben Goodin went a combined 3-for-4 on the free-throw attempts to increase the lead to 54-40. Golden drove to the basket after the inbound pass to balloon the lead to 56-40 with just over a minute left in the game.

The two teams traded baskets down the stretch with the Lions walking away with the 14-point victory.

“I feel like it’s always good to get a win,” said Strange. “It’s just always good to get a little bit of confidence, especially going into a tough week ahead.”

Up Next

Pineville (9-16) traveled to Bell County (16-10) on Monday.

Owsley County (10-15) will host Buckhorn (19-9) on Tuesday.