The Hopkinsville Tigers will probably be OK with not returning to Jason White Gymnasium at Lyon County High School any time soon. Less than 24 hours after the Tigers were rolled by Lyon County, the Evansville Christian Eagles took care of the Tigers 81-71 in the second game of the day in the Akridge Ace Jam.
The Tigers were playing a bit shorthanded, as Olajuwon White, K.C. Cabiness, and Daisjaun Mercer, all did not make the trip to Eddyville for the noontime start.
The two teams went back-and-forth over the first eight minutes. Hopkinsville would end up taking a 16-14 lead at the end of the quarter. Then came the second quarter and Josiah Dunham time.
After the first basket of the second quarter put the Tigers up 18-14, the Eagles delivered the knockout blow. Evansville Christian scored the next 15 points of the game to take a 29-18 lead. With Dunham leading the way, the lead would still be at 11 at the break as the Eagles took a 37-26 lead into the locker room. Dunham ended the half with 16 points.
The Tigers would come out of the break and cut the lead to ten at 43-33. But, they still could find no answer fo Josiah Dunham, who took the Eagles on his back and took off. Evansville Christian would push the lead back out to 58-42 as the third quarter came to an end.
The Tigers still had a run left in them as the final quarter got underway. Bubba Leavell and Isaiah Manning started finding their way to the basket on the inside, and KeiMarion Smith got hot from outside the arc as the Tigers battled back to as close as seven at 68-61.
But down the stretch, Dunham and his Eagle teammates were able to do what they needed to close out the win.
Bubba Leavell led the Tigers with 18 points on the afternoon. Isaiah Manning finished with 15. Antonio Williams added 14 points, while KeiMarion Smith also hit double figures with 12.
Evansville Christian’s Josiah Dunham led all scorers with 36 points. Andrew Sanabria hit for 17 for the Eagels.
The loss drops Hopkinsville to 16-6 on the year. The Tigers are slated to get back to action Monday night when they host Christian County in an 8th District battle.
EVA — 14 23 21 23 — 81
HHS — 16 10 16 29 — 71
Evansville Christian – Dunham 36, Sanabria 17, Scnhepper 10, Chesser 7, Sharp 5, Davis 2, Williams 2, Shannon 2
Hopkinsville (16-6) – Leavell 18, Manning 15, Williams 14, Smith 12, Johnson 5, Dowlen 3, Northington 2, Gavin 2
