The offensive woes that plagued Hopkinsville for the last part of 2018 were on full display in their first game of 2019 Thursday. The Lady Tigers hit just 28-percent from the field and fell to Madisonville 52-43 at Tiger Gym.
The Lady Tigers were playing without second-leading scorer Jayla Rose, leading rebounder Donisha Flowers, and Dominque Moore. All three missed the game for what Coach Anthony Babb called violation of team rules.
Hopkinsville missed 10 of their first 12 shots and fell behind Madisonville early as the Lady Maroons used an 11-0 run to take a 13-2 lead.
Madisonville’s biggest lead of the first half came at the end of the first quarter when they led 16-4. Yogi McKnight spurred an 11-4 run with five points as the Lady Tigers drew to within 22-20 with 1:25 left in the half. Despite hitting 8-of-26 from the field, Hoptown only trailed 24-20 at halftime. The Lady Tigers were aided by 10 Lady Maroon turnovers in first 16 minutes.
Madisonville built their lead to 38-28 with 2:18 left in the third quarter before Hopkinsville answered with an 8-1 run to cut the deficit to 39-36 after three quarters.
Jakiyah Hinton’s put back with 5:23 drew Hoptown to within 43-39, but the Lady Tigers would get no closer. Hoptown hit just 3-of-14 shots from the field in the final quarter, and Madisonville hit 5-of-6 free throws to seal the win.
For the game, Hoptown shot 28-percent from the field and was outrebounded 38-30. However, the Lady Tigers stayed within striking distance thanks to scoring 14 points off 17 Madisonville turnovers.
McKnight and Breon Oldham each scored 16 points and had three steals. Lakayla Samuel added seven points and 12 rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Madisonville (11-3) got 19 points from Cameron Lagrange and 10 points and 12 rebounds from Lindsey Peyton.
Hopkinsville (11-7) travels to Fort Campbell Friday.
