With a spot in the City of Middletown Holiday Classic championship game on the line on Wednesday, DeSales High School raced out to a commanding lead and cruised past Hopkinsville 89-61.
DeSales advanced to Thursday’s championship game against hosts Eastern, while Hoptown will face Bardstown in the 3rd-place game.
The Colts led 13-2 early and built a 19-point advantage after the first quarter. With four minutes left in the half, DeSales was in front 41-15 and went on to lead by 30 at the break.
Brady Cummins scored 13 first-half points, Crew Gibson added 11, and Tyler Klein knocked down three three-pointers to lead the DeSales attack. The Colts hit 8 of 13 attempts from behind the arc to start the game.
Both teams scored 19 points in the third quarter before DeSales triggered the running clock up 84-48 with just over four minutes to play in the game.
Crew Gibson posted a double-double with 22 points and ten rebounds to lead the Colts, followed by Cummings and Julian Bunton with 15 each. Klein also reached double figures with 12 points.
DeSales enjoyed a 26-4 advantage in points off the bench and won the rebounding battle 46 to 33.
Antonio Williams had 19 points and seven rebounds to lead the Tigers. Daisjaun Mercer finished with 19 points, Bubba Leavell finished with 12, and Isaiah Manning pulled down six rebounds.
Hoptown 10 15 19 17 — 61
DeSales 29 26 19 15 — 61
Hoptown (4-7) — Mercer 19, Williams 19, Leavell 12, Smith 5, Dudley 2, Manning 2, Johnson 2
DeSales (7-5) — C. Gibson 22, Bunton 15, Cummins 15, Klein 12, W. Gibson 8, Martin 6, Tharp 6, Vittitoe 4 Smith 1
