One can only hope that when the Christian County Colonels and the Hopkinsville Tigers meet on the basketball court for the final time, at some point during the 2022-20232 basketball season, it can be something like Thursday night’s 8th District championship game between the two teams. Daisjaun Mercer’s basket with 1:25 to go in the second overtime turned out to be the winning basket as the Tigers survived a stern test from the Colonels 60-58 in double overtime.
Jordan Miles’ off-balance runner down the lane just before the horn hit the backboard and bounced off the rim into the hands of the Tigers as the Hoptown celebration spilled onto the court. It was Miles who buried two big free throws against University Heights on Tuesday night to secure the Colonels’ berth in the championship game.
In a game filled with big baskets, key defensive plays, untimely mistakes, big makes at the line, and big misses at the line, it was the Tigers who were finally able to make the one play to close out what had been an epic battle all night long.
The game was a battle from tipoff till the final horn. The game was played out in a 13 point range, with Hopkinsville’s biggest lead being five points, while Christian County’s biggest lead was eight.
The game was tied in the first quarter at 7-7 and 9-9 before the Tigers took a 14-11 lead at quarter’s end. K.C.Cabiness had a big start to the night to get Hopkinsville going.
Breland Morrison hit a three to start the second quarter to even things up at 14. The game would then be tied at 16, 18, and 20. Christian County appeared to have seized the momentum right before the break, as the Colonels closed out the half with a 7-0 run to take a 27-20 lead into the half. Morrison was big for Christian County in the half with 13 points.
The Colonels would extend the lead to 30-22 early in the second half as it looked like the Tigers might be in a bit of trouble. But, led by K.C. Cabiness and Daisjaun Mercer, the Tigers came roaring back. By the time the quarter ended, Hopkinsville had cut the lead to two at 39-37.
Hoptown came out to start the final quarter with a 9-2 blitz and took the lead at 46-41 and now it seemed as if the Colonels might be running out of gas and running out of time. Christian County would close to 48-47 with 3.7 seconds to go in regulation and Jordan Miles going to the line with a chance to put the Colonels in the lead. Miles would hit one of two to tie the game.
Hopkinsville pushed the ball upcourt, but Bubba Leavell’s shot was off the mark and Olajuwon White’s putback came after the buzzer and it was off to overtime we went.
In the first extra period, County scored first to take a 50-48 lead. The game would then be tied at 50 and 52 before. With the Colonels leading 54-52, K.C. Cabiness would score from down inside the paint to tie the game at 54-54 with 7.8 seconds to go. This time it was JaSean Riley who penetrated down into the lane to get a look at the basket but came up just off the mark as the game headed to the second extra period.
The second extra period was no different than the rest of the night. There were two ties and two lead changes, with the last of those coming on Mercer’s winning basket with 1:25 to go.
One of the key moments of the entire night came with 2:28 to go in the second overtime when Christian County’s Derrell Bateman, who had a spectacular night on both ends of the floor picked up his fifth foul.
K.C. Cabiness ended the night with 19 points for the Tigers. Daisjaun Mercer added 18. KeiMarion Smith also hit double figures with 11.
Christian County’s Derrell Batemen led all scorers with 21 points before fouling out in the second overtime. Breland Morrison had 18 points but left the game with a leg injury late in the contest. Jordan Miles added 11 points for the Colonels.
The win gives Hopkinsville their first district championship since 2017 when they beat Christian County 62-61.
Both teams advance on to the 2nd Region tournament next week. Hopkinsville will play at home Tuesday night against a runner-up from the 5th, 6th, or 7th District. Christian County will be on the road Tuesday night taking on a champion from the 5th, 6th, or 7th District.6
CCHS — 11 16 12 9 6 4 – 58
HHS — 14 6 17 11 6 6 – 60
Christian County (10-21) – Bateman 21, Morrison 18, Miles 11, K.J. Vaughn 6, Farrow 2
Hopkinsville (20-6) – Cabiness 19, Mercer 18, Smith 11, Manning 5, Williams 3, Leavell 2, White 2
