King, Goodin rank among Kentucky’s best
Published 3:08 pm Friday, February 1, 2019
Of the thousands of athletes in the state of Kentucky, two local players from Pineville are among the best the state has to offer in two separate statistical categories. Raigan King is third in the state in overall field-goal percentage at 66.2 percent on the season. Ben Goodin ranks sixth in the state in free-throw percentage hitting 88.2 percent of his shots from the charity stripe.
“Raigan (King) has really progressed as a player,” said Lady Lions coach Jamie Mills. “She has done a phenomenal job of recognizing a double-team. She went from where she would try to force things, to passing the ball and relocating for a better lane. She does a great job of moving without the ball and has excellent vision. She has done a great job of creating high quality shots, allowing her to connect on the majority of them.”
While being one of the most accurate shooters on the team, King is currently second among the Lady Lions in points per game (15.2 ppg). She currently leads the team in rebounds averaging 8.9 boards per game.
Goodin is the senior leader for the Pineville boys team. The fact that he is nailing shots from the charity stripe should come as no surprise. As a junior, he was one of the best free-throw shooters on the team hitting 76 percent of his attempts. This season is no different.
“Ben has done a great job from the free-throw line this season,” said coach James David Strange. “When we get down into the bonus and we are shooting a one-and-one, we try to get the ball in his hands. He’s been great all year.”
Goodin attributes some of his success from the line to how much the team practices free-throw shooting.
“We practice them repeatedly every single practice,” said Goodin. “During practice, the coaches push us until we are exhausted, and that’s when we shoot the free throws. They tell us that we have to make shots when we are tired, and they’re right. Usually they tell us to make 10 free throws. I’ll shoot and if I miss one, I start over because I like to make myself make those 10 shots in a row. That way I can feel comfortable in any situation shooting those free throws.”
Goodin has also been a primary scorer for Pineville this year averaging a team-best 13.5 points per game while shooting at a 42.7 percent clip.