Looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season, the Madisonville-North Hopkins Maroons built a double-digit 1st quarter lead and held off visiting Christian County 63-47 on Tuesday.
The Maroons led 9-0 after a 3-pointer by Kale Gaither forced a Colonel timeout with just over a minute played. Ashton Gaines knocked down a jumper to stretch the margin to double-digits at 13-2 and Madisonville continued to pile it on behind seven 1st-quarter points for Zach Tow.
The Colonels began to find their footing in the 2nd quarter, with Derrell Bateman scoring in the paint and KJ Vaughn drilling a 3-pointer to cut the lead to eight ahead of a Madisonville timeout.
A corner 3-pointer by Landon Cline gave the Maroons a 35-20 advantage with just under three minutes to play in the half and they took a 12-point cushion to the break.
Vaughn scored on a drive and Bateman got a basket in the paint to pull the Colonels back to within eight a minute into the 2nd half, but Kale Gaither answered with a layup for the Maroons and Christian County never closed to single digits again.
Gaither added nine points in the 4th quarter and the Maroons took a 60-40 lead after a Destin Cheirs bucket with just over four minutes left to play. The Colonels battled back to within 15 but couldn’t get any closer the rest of the way.
Gaither eclipsed 2,000 career points in the first half on the way to a game-high 20. Tow and Gaines both finished with 11 for the Maroons.
Vaughn led the Colonels with 17, joined in double-figures by Bateman with 10.
Christian County will welcome Paducah Tilghman to Colonel Gym on Friday looking to even its season record. The Maroons open 7th-District play on the road at Dawson Springs on Thursday.
Madisonville-North Hopkins 22 15 11 15 — 63
Christian County 9 16 8 14 — 47
Madisonville-North Hopkins (3-1) — Gaither 20, Gaines 11, Tow 11, Frazier 7, Cline 6, Cheirs 4, McAdoo 4
Christian County (1-2) — Vaughn 17, Bateman 10, Morrison 9, Henderson 5, Miles 4, Gilmore 2
