Jabrion Spikes put up 30 points in Caldwell County’s first game at the McLean County Agrigold Christmas Tournament.
He then bettered that performance in the Tigers’ second game, pouring in a career-high 44 points to help lead Caldwell into the championship game of the holiday tournament.
Caldwell (4-2) will face host McLean (8-2) at 4 p.m. Wednesday for the tourney title. All of Wednesday’s action will take place at the Sportscenter in Owensboro.
Caldwell turned back Mayfield 63-53 in its first game on Tuesday.
The Tigers came back later that night and defeated Bardstown Bethlehem 86-71.
In the late game, Caldwell led just 21-15 after one quarter, but stretched the margin to 41-27 at halftime.
Caldwell went up 67-47 through three quarters.
It was the first meeting ever between the Tigers and the Eagles.
Casey Steadmon had 28 points and Cam Porter 19 for Bethlehem.
Spikes scored 20 points in the first half and 24 in the second half for the Tigers. Carter Whittington added 10 for Caldwell while Zavy Bumphus had eight.
As for Spikes’ big game, it’s only the 10th time a Tiger has scored as much as 44 points in a game. Matt Fraliex holds the school record with a 49-point performance against Webster County in February of 2007.
In Caldwell’s opening win over Mayfield, the Tigers pulled away in the third quarter in that one, turning a 28-24 halftime lead into a 41-31 advantage entering the final frame.
Spikes scored 20 of his 30 points in the first half.
Caldwell also got 10 points from Dewey Riley and eight from Carter Whittington.
Sam Stone led Mayfield with 11 points.
Mayfield still holds a 13-3 advantage in the all-time series. The Cardinals had taken the last two meetings in 2016 and 2017. The Tigers had not won in the series since beating Mayfield 59-34 on Dec. 23, 2013.
Caldwell County 21 20 26 19—86
Bethlehem 15 12 20 24—71
Caldwell County (4-2) — Jabrion Spikes 44, Carter Whittington 10, Zavy Bumphus 8, Demaurius Thompson 6, Isaiah Joyner 5, Collin Whittington 5, Logan Smiley 3, Dewey Riley 3, Elijah Shaheen 2.
Bethlehem (4-6) — Casey Steadmon 28, Cam Porter 19. Nicholas Culver 10, Nicholas Osborne 4, Justin Popovich 3, Jordan Brady 2, Hayden Osborne 2, Ashton Blair 2, Caden Cox 1.
Caldwell County 15 13 13 12—53
Mayfield 13 11 7 12—63
Caldwell County (3-2) — Jabrion Spikes 30, Dewey Riley 10, Carter Whittington 8, Zavy Bumphus 3, Collin Whittington 2.
Mayfield (1-1) — Sam Stone 11, Brajone Dabney 6, Nolan Fulton 6, Braden Morris 6, Demarco Gammons 5, Owen Webb 3, Brayden Pace 3, Jonah Watson 3.
