Mercer Dominates Corbin in Battle of Mr Basketball Hopefuls
Saturday afternoon’s game at Lafayette was supposed to be a rematch between two of the highest scorers in Kentucky high school history. Corbin’s Andrew Taylor tried to keep up with Trevon Faulkner’s Mercer County Titans. Ultimately, The Titans ran away with the rematch from a Corbin win in December. Here were from of my takeaways from the high scoring affair that ultimately ended up with Mercer winning 87-70.
1. Most of Corbin’s possessions consisted of two or fewer passes. There were plenty of Andrew Taylor pull-up 3s. There were several possessions where the ball was entered to the wing and a contested 3 was taken. Corbin put up 29 three point attempts in the game, hitting 10. Ultimately, the entire team suffered from a lack of ball movement and selflessness.
2. The Taylor Brothers tried their best to keep Corbin in the game in the second half. Senior Andrew Taylor scored 41 points for the Hounds. His younger brother Matthew added 13. The rest of the Corbin roster combined for 16 points. If Corbin wants to get to Rupp Arena next month they’ll need more contributions from the kids on the roster not named Taylor.
3. While he didn’t have a monster game, Trevon Faulkner showcased his leadership on Saturday. The Senior is nearing the end of his 5th and final year of starting for the Titans. There is no doubt who leads the team. Faulkner was barking instructions all game long as well as correcting and encouraging teammates. Faulkner is going to finish his career with over 3,000 points and 1,000 rebounds but on Saturday he displayed the type of leadership I never would have expected when he was an 8th grader starting varsity.
4. Mercer County is one of the best teams that no one mentions when discussing the state’s elites. After Saturday’s win, Mercer County sits at 19-4 on the season with quality wins on their resume. Their strength of schedule won’t blow anyone away but this group, when clicking, is capable of making it to Rupp Arena next month and winning a game, maybe two.
5. It would be a fitting end for Faulkner and Taylor to end their careers at Rupp Arena. Mercer and Corbin are probably the favorites to win the 12th and 13th regions. In my coaching career I have been lucky enough to coach both young men. In my extremely biased opinion, both players are two of the best that the state has seen in a while. Each young man has had a tremendous career over the last 5 seasons (both started varsity as 8th graders). Only one team can leave Rupp Arena as KHSAA state champions but it would be nice to see Andrew and Trevon play at Rupp Arena before moving on to their college careers at Furman and Northern Kentucky.