Despite some red-hot long-range shooting from Hopkinsville’s Bubba Leavell, the Tigers found the fortifications of Castle, IN, too much to overcome in a 78-62 defeat at the Banterra Bank Warrior Showcase on Friday.
Leavell hit six of eight attempts from deep on the way to a team-high 26 points, including three triples and 11 points in the first quarter. However, Castle’s Weston Aigner was also on target early with eight points, and the Knights led 18-17 after one.
The Tigers used a balanced effort to surge ahead in the second frame, outscoring Castle 16-13 to take a 33-31 advantage into the halftime break.
But the Knights went on the offensive in the second half, posting 27 points in the third behind nine for Aigner. Antonio Williams had seven for the Tigers, but they trailed by 14 with a quarter to play.
Leavell did his best to spark a Hoptown comeback, draining a trio of three-pointers for 11 more points in the fourth. But the moat was too wide for the Tigers, with Aigner tacking on seven more points for a game-high 30 to help Castle close the drawbridge.
Hopkinsville dropped to 5-11 overall with one more game in Indiana on Saturday before the Tigers head to Madisonville-North Hopkins on Monday.
Hopkinsville 17 16 11 18 — 62
Castle 18 13 27 20 — 78
Hopkinsville (5-11) — Leavell 26, Williams 15, Smith 8, Gavin 5, Johnson 4, Manning 4
Castle (7-4) — Aigner 30, Bishop 11, Daines 8, McAtee 8, Lambert 7, Niehaus 6, Nunge 4, Watson 3, Reiter 1
