After handing Northwest, TN a 27-point setback on December 20, the Hopkinsville Tigers may have been surprised to find themselves trailing through much of the 1st quarter in Tuesday night’s rematch with the Vikings.
But after ramping up their effort on the defensive end, the Tigers steadily pulled away before exploding in the 4th quarter to rout Northwest 74-32 in Tiger Gym.
The streaking Tigers win their sixth in a row to improve to 10-4 with a trip to Christian County coming up on Friday.
Northwest opened the game with three 3-pointers to take a 9-2 advantage, but the Tigers were within a point at 11-10 after a Bubba Leavell 3-pointer. Olajuwon White scored on consecutive possessions to tie the game for the Tigers before Antonio Williams capped the 1st quarter with a steal and dunk for an 18-16 Hoptown lead.
From when they were trailing 16-12 with 1:46 left in the 1st quarter, the Tigers outscored the Vikings 62-16 the rest of the way. Williams opened the 2nd quarter with another steal and dunk and the Tigers went on a 10-4 run to lead 30-20 after five straight points for KC Cabiness.
Jacob Gavin knocked down a 3 and Cabiness scored on a short jumper to put Hoptown in front 37-22 at halftime.
The teams combined for only 19 points in the 3rd with KeiMarion Smith accounting for half of the Tigers’ ten. Kaden West connected from behind the arc with :10 left to give Hoptown a 47-31 cushion with a quarter to play.
The Tigers were hitting on all cylinders over the final eight minutes, holding the Vikings to a single free throw and getting eight of his game-high 15 points from Leavell to blow the game open.
Williams added five to finish with 14 and the Tigers outscored the Vikings by 26 for their second-largest margin of victory this season.
Hopkinsville 18 19 10 27 — 74
Northwest 16 6 9 1 — 32
Hopkinsville (10-4) — Leavell 15, Williams 14, Smith 13, Cabiness 12, White 10, Gavin 3, Manning 3, West 3, Dowlen 1
Northwest (1-9) — Monday 7, Kendrell 6, Williams 6, Batista 5, Harvey 5, Smith 2, Albright 1
