Down 11 points with 1:51 left, Trigg County rallied for an improbable win at Wildcat Gym Tuesday night. Khyran Vaughn put back his brother’s miss with four seconds to go to lift the Wildcats to the 57-56 win, capping a rally that saw Trigg County score 18 points in less than two minutes.
A combination of turnovers and missed free throws in the final two minutes were a recipe for disaster for the Rockets, who took a 50-39 lead on a pair of Travis Champion free throws with 1:51 left.
The Wildcats only made four field goals during the winning stretch but were continually put at the free throw line by the Rockets and caught up by hitting 13 of 17 free throws in the final quarter. Meanwhile, the Rockets hit just 6 of 17 at the line in the final frame and 10 of 23 for the game.
Jhaden Vaughn scored 10 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and was a perfect six of six at the free-throw line in the final eight minutes. He also had 13 rebounds.
With under 10 seconds left, Jhaden drove to the basket and missed a shot in the paint, but his brother Khyran rebounded the miss and stuck it back with four seconds to go to put the Wildcats up by one.
Champion tried to win the game with the final shot but his twisting effort of the paint failed to drop.
Khyran Vaughn ended with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Champion lead the Rockets with 24 points and nine rebounds, and Preston Morgeson added 12 points. Holden Cooksey had six points and nine rebounds but fouled out early in the fourth quarter. Once he exited the game, Crittenden lost some interior defense.
The teams will meet again in the semi-finals of the district tournament later this month on the Rockets’ home floor in Marion. The win snapped a five-game winning streak by the Rockets over Trigg dating back two years.
Crittenden County 12 9 16 19– 56
Trigg County 8 15 9 25– 57
Crittenden County – [10-11] – Champion 24, Morgeson 12, Derrington 7, Cooksey 6, Yates 4, Beverly 2, Adamson 1
Trigg County [11-10] – J. Vaughn 19, K. Vaughn 12, Shearer 8, Adams 5, Reynolds 5, Ahart 4, Gude 2, Washer 2
