It was an atmosphere fitting of tournament time, and it was an atmosphere we had not seen in a while. The house was nearly full, the pep band and the cheerleaders were working to fire up the home crowd, and the two student section were giving it all they had. Add in, it was a rivalry game between the Hoptown Tigers and the Christian County Colonels and you had the makings for a special Friday night.
And the game turned out to be not too bad either. To say the least.
Hopkinsville got big late-game baskets from K.C. Cabiness and Olajuwon White as the Tigers rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to take a 61-56 win over Christian County in front of a vocal crowd in Colonel Gym.
The Colonels came out of the gate showing the Tigers they would have to fight to take this one. With the game tied at 9-9, Christian County closed out the first quarter with a 14-5 run to take a 23-14 lead.
The pace of the game slowed down somewhat in the second quarter, but the intensity did not. Hopkinsville was able to trim the lead, but not much as the Colonels went to the locker room holding a 29-22 lead.
After putting up only six points in the second quarter, the Christian County offense continued to struggle to find the hoop in the third. That opened the door for Hopkinsville to start the half on a 13-6 run to tie the game at 35-35. The Tigers kept that momentum for the remainder of the quarter as they took a 42-37 lead into the final eight minutes.
Led by Jordan Miles and Derrell Bateman, the Colonels would not quite go away that easy. Christian County started the final quarter outscoring the Tigers 12 to 4 to retake the lead at 49-46. Miles and Bateman had a huge second half, scoring all but four of the Colonels points.
But when it came to crunch time in the final moments, the Colonels struggled to contain White and Cabiness inside, and that would be the turning point of the contest. Hopkinsville nearly opened the door for Christian County to step through when Bubba Leavell got hit with a technical foul inside the final minute. However, Jordan Miles would miss both free throws and Leavell would then come up with a steal and layup to essentially seal the win for Hopkinsville.
Daisjaun Mercer led three Hopkinsville Tigers in double figures with 13 points. Bubba Leavell had 11, while K.C. Cabiness added 10, all of them coming in the second half.
Derrell Bateman hit for 17 for Christian County. Jordan Miles also reached double figures with 16.
Hopkinsville goes to 11-4 overall and 1-0 in the district with the win.
Christian County drops to 4-14 and 1-1.
HHS — 14 8 20 19 – 61
CCHS — 23 6 8 19 – 56
Hopkinsville (11-4) – Mercer 13, Leavell 11, Cabiness 10, White 8, Williams 7, Smith 6, Manning 6
Christian County (4-14) – Bateman 17, Miles 16, Gilmore 6, KJ Vaughn 5, Riley 5, Morrison 4, Trez Vaughn 3
