In a matchup that felt more like a 2nd-Region tournament game than a Tuesday in early December, the Madisonville-North Hopkins Maroons held off Christian County 54-49 to stay undefeated and hand the Colonels their first loss of the season.
Christian County led 6-5 early after a baseline jumper by Jordan Miles, but Madisonville’s Lujuan McAdoo came off the bench to knock down a pair of three-pointers and help the Maroons to a 13-8 lead after the first quarter.
The Colonels opened the second on a 5-0 spurt, capped by a jumper in the lane by Derrell Bateman. Breland Morrison converted a three-point play to give Christian County a 16-14 advantage, but Madisonville responded with six unanswered to regain the lead.
Bateman went out with his second foul with just over 3:30 to play in the half and the Maroons outscored the Colonels 9-2 the rest of the way. Brayden Butler drained a corner three with :18 left for a 30-23 Madisonville lead at the break.
A pull-up jumper by Marcus Eaves put the Maroons up seven in the third, but Bateman scored four straight, including a monster dunk in transition, to keep it within a possession. However, like a boxer stealing the round right before the bell, Madisonville went to the fourth quarter with a nine-point cushion after Tre Carney’s three-quarter-court heave beat the buzzer.
Eaves fouled out for Madisonville with 6:32 to play, and the Colonels began to chip away at the deficit. Morrison’s corner three cut it to four, and Christian County closed to within a point at 47-46 on KJ Vaughn’s three in front of the Colonel bench with 2:45 left.
McAdoo scored the next four points, and Carney popped up again with a layup to push it back out to seven and force a Christian County timeout. Bateman’s two free throws trimmed it back down to five, but the Colonels couldn’t get any closer.
Madisonville improves to 3-0 behind 12 points for DeAaron Watkins, 11 for McAdoo, and ten for Butler. The Maroons head to Henderson on Friday looking to extend their perfect start.
Bateman was the lone Colonel in double figures with 22. Christian County will look to return to winning ways when Paducah Tilghman visits on Friday.
Madisonville 13 17 10 14 — 54
Christian County 8 15 8 18 — 49
Madisonville (3-0) — Watkins 12, McAdoo 11, Butler 10, Eaves 8, Carney 5, Peyton 4, Cheirs 2, Frazier 2
Christian County (2-1) — Bateman 22, Miles 9, Morrison 9, Vaughn 5, Sanders 4, Riley 1
