Former Caldwell County standout Michael Fraliex made his return to the CAB gym in Princeton was head coach of the Hopkins County Central Storm on Tuesday.
Fraliex’s squad got off to a good start, building a 10-point lead in the first half.
However, Caldwell regrouped and got to halftime with a 37-33 advantage.
The Tigers went on to defeat Hopkins Central 84-54 in 7th District action.
Fraliex is second on Caldwell’s all-time scoring list with 2,896 points in a Tiger uniform.
He had his Storm team ready to go on Tuesday, with Hopkins Central going up 23-13 after 8 minutes thanks to a midcourt shot at the buzzer by John Miller that rattled home.
But Caldwell countered with a hot start to the second quarter. A 13-2 run put the Tigers up 26-25 on a Cole Smiley bucket midway through the frame.
Caldwell went up by 10, 37-27, late in the half before Hopkins Central got back to within 37-33 at the break.
But the Storm never got any closer in the second half.
Caldwell pushed its lead to 60-44 through three quarters and went on to win by 30 against a Hopkins Central that played an overtime game on Monday in a 52-51 setback at Trigg County in the Kentucky 2A Championships.
Adarius Riley led all scorers with 22 points for the Tigers. Cayden Fraliex added 20 points and Smiley finished with 18 for Caldwell.
Blasin Moore and John Miller each had 13 to lead Hopkins Central. Sam Almon added 11 for the Storm, which is now 0-13 overall and 0-3 in the district.
Caldwell is now 6-7, but the Tigers are 6-2 since opening the season with five straight losses. The Tigers are 2-0 in district play.
Caldwell hosts district foe Madisonville-North Hopkins for Homecoming on Friday.
Hopkins Central next visits Fort Campbell on Friday.
Hopkins Central 23 10 11 10 — 54
Caldwell County 13 24 23 24 — 84
Hopkins Central (0-13, 0-3) — Miller 13, Moore 13, Almon 11, Winn 9, Weldon 4, Eaves 4.
Caldwell County (6-7, 2-0) — A. Riley 22, Fraliex 20, Smiley 18, Blaine 9, Branch 8, Whittington 4, Ray 3.
