Madisonville-North Hopkins’ Marcus Eaves was nearly perfect from the free-throw line, including 14 makes in the fourth quarter, to help the Maroons hold off Hopkinsville 63-58 on Tuesday at the First United Bank Holiday Classic.
The Maroons earned their sixth win in a row to improve to 9-1 ahead of a matchup with Owensboro Catholic to wrap up the tournament on Wednesday.
The Tigers raced out to a 7-2 advantage after a putback by Isaiah Manning, but the Maroons were back level on an Eaves jumper with 1:35 left in the opening quarter. Hoptown’s Antonio Williams scored seven points in the first, including a jumper with:15 left to tie it 15-15.
Jakob Gavin completed a three-point play for a 20-18 Hoptown lead early in the second, but that would be the last time the Tigers were in front. Eaves added eight more, and the Maroons led 31-22 at halftime.
A layup by Destin Chiers put the Maroons up by nine, but the Tigers battled back to within a basket at 41-39 after a Daisjaun Mercer drive with just over a minute left in the third. Hoptown had three looks ahead of the buzzer to tie the game, but couldn’t get them to go down.
The Tigers tied the game twice early in the fourth, and were within two points after KeiMarion Smith’s three-pointer with 3:17 to play. However, Eaves sealed the win at the free-throw line, sinking 14 straight to put the Maroons in front 63-53 with seconds remaining.
Eaves finished with 39 to lead all scorers. Mercer scored 17 for the Tigers, Williams had 12, and Leavell scored 11.
Hopkinsville 15 7 19 17 — 58
Madisonville 15 16 12 20 — 63
Hopkinsville (3-5) — Mercer 17, Williams 12, Leavell 11, Smith 9, Gavin 5, Manning 4
Madisonville (9-1) — Eaves 39, Watkins 6, Cheirs 4, Frazier 4, Martin 3, McAdoo 3, Butler 2, Rodgers 2
