Hopkinsville’s only 3-pointer of the night could not have come at a better time. Senior Javon Smith-Rudd drilled a trey from the left wing with 52 seconds left Friday to force overtime, and the Tiger basketball team eventually pulled away in the extra frame to defeat Paducah Tilghman High School 79-72 in a dramatic Senior Night triumph.
The Blue Tornado, who held leads at the end of each of the first three quarters, and jumped ahead by as many as seven points in the fourth quarter, nearly pulled off a miraculous victory in regulation, but Michael Laster’s heave from beyond midcourt, which bounced high off the top of backboard and into the goal, was waved off by the officials.
Hoptown never trailed in OT, scoring the first four points to set the tone, and put its regular-season finale away on six big overtime points from Daisjuan Mercer.
All six Tigers who scored points Friday reached double figures, with senior Don Victor leading the way with 19. He was followed by Alijah Watts (16), Reece Jesse (12), Mercer (11), Smith-Rudd (11) and KC Cabiness (10).
Laster, who paced all scorers with a game-high 28 points, asserted his will for most of the contest with a seemingly unstoppable inside presence. He and teammate Eli Brown (19 points) did the bulk of the damage in defeat for PTHS, which was vying for its 20th win of the season.
Tilghman appeared to begin pulling away when Laster assisted a bucket and scored one of his own on consecutive possessions, staking the Tornado to 64-59 lead with 2:25 remaining. But Hoptown stayed in the fight long enough for Smith-Rudd to connect with the aforementioned 3-pointer to tie the game.
The opposing teams traded leads on five different occasions in the first half. Back-to-back steals and subsequent layups from Watts put Hopkinsville up 26-22 with 4:37 left in the first half, but Paducah Tilghman countered when Laster returned from a stint on the bench and immediately made his presence known.
PTHS (19-9) finished the second quarter on an 11-4 run to take a 33-30 lead at halftime.
Victor started hot out of the locker room to begin the third quarter, scoring Hoptown’s first four points. Watts then used a smooth jumper to help his squad regain a 38-36 advantage, but the Blue Tornado answered once again and put together another 11-4 run to enter the final period with the lead.
Brown’s third 3-pointer of the contest gave Tilghman a six-point cushion with just over five minutes to go, but another Watts converted jump shot kept the Tigers within range on the ensuing possession. And when Cabiness fouled out for HHS with 3:35 remaining, the affair was knotted 59-all.
The victory for Hopkinsville moves it to 14-16 for the regular season, and gives the Tigers an ideal shot in the arm just before Tuesday’s 8th District Tournament semifinal showdown against host Christian County.
The Colonels defeated Hoptown twice during the regular season. The loser of next week’s matchup will have their season ended. That contest is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Lyle Dunbar Gymnasium.
–— Chris Jung
SCORE BY QUARTER
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q OT
PTHS (19-10) 19 14 14 19 6 – 72
HHS (14-16) 16 14 12 24 13 – 79
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
PTHS: Eli Brown 19, Michael Laster 28, Mian Shaw 8, Troy Williams 2, Jackson Goodwin 9, Camdon Marshall 6; HHS: Reece Jesse 12, Don Victor 19, Javon Smith-Rudd 11, Alijah Watts 16, KC Cabiness 10, Daijuan Mercer 11
3-POINTERS
PTHS: 4 (Brown 3, Laster); HHS: 1 (Smith-Rudd)
