By John Henson
Sports Writer
CORBIN — A season that Pineville basketball fans won’t soon forget ended one game short of the 13th Region Tournament championship game and one game short of the best finish in school history as the Lions fell 66-56 to a South Laurel squad that matched the Lions in experience and exceeded them in size and strength.
South Laurel owned a 36-22 advantage on the boards as 6-foot-8 senior forward Jordan Mabe finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Josh Steele and Max Fullmer added 18 and 12 points, respectively, while adding seven rebounds each.
“We made some plays, but they were a little too much for us on the boards,” Pineville coach Brad Levy said. “I was proud of how our guys battled. We kept trying to find ways with deflection and steals to stay in the game.
Sawyer Thompson, the Lions’ senior point guard, finished his stellar high school career with 25 points. Ashton Moser and Kaiden Robbins added 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Pineville finished the season with a 22-10 record, second only to the 2008 squad that finished 24-6. The Lions advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 2012 and fell one game short of the 1973 squad that made it all the way to the 13th Region finals before falling to Clay County. The Lions featured a 10-man senior class, including all five starters.
“I’ve used the word special a lot to talk about these kids and this team,” Pineville coach Brad Levy said. “We have really good kids who have worked hard and accepted roles to make the team better. It’s been a fun ride to be on with them.”
South Laurel took a 14-10 lead after one quarter, but the Lions cut the deficit to three at halftime as they outscored the Cardinals 13-12. South outscored Pineville 18-8 in the third quarter to take a 13-point lead into the final period.
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South Laurel (66) — Colton Rawlings 9, Josh Steele 18, Jordan Mabe 22, Kaiden McQueen 3, Max Fullmer 12, Garrison Brown 2
Pineville (56) — Sawyer Thompson 25, Ashton Moser 14, Cameron Puckett 6, Kaiden Robbins 11, Jeremiah Beck 0, Zander Garrison 0, Jack Smith 0, Sebastian Kyle 0.

Pineville 10 13 8 25 — 56
South Laurel 14 12 18 22 — 66