Caldwell County appeared to have one of the regional favorites on the ropes Friday night. But Madisonville-North Hopkins used pressure defense and strong free-throw shooting in the final quarter to subdue the Tigers 80-70 in 7th District action at the CAB gym in Princeton.
It was the 11th straight win overall for the Maroons (18-5), who finished off a perfect 6-0 regular-season run through the district.
Caldwell, 14-8 overall and 2-3 in district play, led for much of the contest. The Tigers grabbed a 14-9 advantage after one quarter and, despite surrendering the lead late in the second quarter, took a 30-28 edge to halftime.
Caldwell then opened the second half with six straight points, opening up its biggest margin of the contest at 36-28.
Madisonville regained the lead momentarily at 40-38, but an 8-0 run had the Tigers up 46-40 following a driving layup by Derrin Boyd with 1:19 left in the third quarter.
But the visiting Maroons trimmed the gap to 48-46 at the end of the stanza. Madisonville then used its full-court press to open the fourth quarter with a 10-2 run and take the lead for good.
Caldwell was hurt by 20 turnovers in the contest but played well otherwise.
After snagging the lead, Madisonville refused to open the door for Caldwell to get back in the game. The Tigers tried to come back by putting the Maroons at the stripe, but Madisonville converted 16 of 20 charity tosses in the fourth quarter. At one point, 14 straight Maroon points came at the stripe.
Caldwell was within 76-70 when Boyd made a 15-footer with 19 seconds left in the game, but the Tigers could get no closer down the stretch.
Madisonville got balanced scoring with five players reaching double figures. Kenny White had 17 points and seven rebounds to lead the Maroons. Keshawn Stone had 15, including an 8-of-10 performance at the free throw line in the fourth quarter. J.D. Gilbert finished with 12 points. Ksuan Casey had 10 points an nine rebounds. Cade Cunningham also scored 10 points.
For Caldwell, Boyd tallied 30 points and 10 rebounds. Cayden Fraliex had 12 points while Cole Smiley had eight points and seven boards. Adarius Riley added eight points for the Tigers.
The Maroons had beaten Caldwell 85-68 on Jan. 8 in Madisonville.
The Maroons will play Bardstown on Saturday at the Wes Strader Schoolboy Shootout at Warren Central.
Caldwell will play its final district game at Dawson Springs on Monday. However, the Tigers appear to be headed for the No. 2 seed for the 7th District tournament behind Madisonville.
