In a battle of region contenders Thursday night, it was the team from the 2nd Region that ended up with the upper hand. The Hopkinsville Tigers used 12-1 fourth quarter run to come from behind and pick up a 69-62 win over defending 3rd Region champion Muhlenberg County.
The Tigers’ 4th quarter rally came after the Mustangs came from nine points down in the third quarter to tie the game at the end of the quarter and then take a four-point lead at 56-52 midway through the final stanza.
The game had big point and momentum swings throughout. Led by a hot start from senior Trey Lovell, Muhlenberg jumped out to a 15-7 lead.
With K.C. Cabiness leading the way, Hoptown roared back to trim the lead to 15-14 at the quarter’s end. The Tigers would then push on and build a seven-point lead of their own at 28-21. Then, it was the Mustangs’ turn.
Muhlenberg County would fight back and cut the lead to four at 32-28 going into the half. The half was in some aspects a showdown between Cabiness and Lovell, who each scored 14 points in the first two quarters of the contest.
Isaiah Manning, Daisjaun Mercer, and Antonio Williams joined the party in the third quarter as Hopkinsville would build on its halftime lead, extending the margin to as many as nine points, before the Mustangs charged back to tie the game at 48-48 heading into the final eight minutes. Brayden Lovan stepped up big for Muhlenberg County during the run back into the contest.
Once they got back to the lead in the final quarter, Hopkinsville’s defense and rebounding controlled the final moments of the game as the Tigers went on to pick up the seven-point win.
The win was the third straight over the Mustangs for the Tigers.
K.C. Cabiness put together a big effort for the Tigers, finishing with 20 points, 14 of them in the first half of play. Daisjaun Mercer finished the night with 13 points. Isaiah Manning came up with a big second half, scoring all 12 of his points after the break.
Trey Lovell led all scorers in the game with 22 points for the Mustangs. Cole Vincent added 13 points before fouling out late in the contest. Brayden Lovan would finish with 11 points, nine of them coming in the second half.
Hopkinsville ends the regular season at 19-6. The Tigers will take on Fort Campbell in an 8th District semifinal next week.
Muhlenberg County goes to 14-10 and will close out the regular season Friday night at home against Warren Central.
MCHS — 15 13 20 14 – 62
HHS — 14 18 16 21 – 69
Hopkinsville (19-6) – Cabiness 20, Mercer 13, Manning 12, Leavell 6, Williams 5, White 5, Smith 4, Northington 4
Muhlenberg County (14-10) – Lovell 22, Vincent 13, Lovan 11, Carver 7, Ray 4, Summers 3. McCoy 2
