Caldwell County pushed 1st Region contender Paducah Tilghman to the limit Thursday night before falling just short of an upset.
Not until Collin Whittington’s shot from beyond midcourt at the final buzzer hit off the backboard, caught the front of the rim, and fell off, did Tilghman leave Princeton with a 61-58 victory.
Caldwell (5-21) took a 31-30 lead to halftime against the Blue Tornado (20-9).
Tilghman quickly regained the advantage in the second half, going up 44-40 after three quarters and lead by as much as eight in the final frame.
But Caldwell battled back to within a single point twice in the final 2 minutes.
A Jaydarius Wilson layup cut the Tilghman advantage to 53-52.
Later, a steal and layup by Carter Whittington had the Tigers within 59-58 with 36 seconds to go.
Mian Shaw hit two free throws with 18.5 seconds left to put the Blue Tornado up 61-58.
After Caldwell missed on a potential game-tying 3-pointer, Tilghman had a chance to salt the game away at the free throw line with 3 seconds left.
However, a pair of misses at the stripe gave Caldwell one final chance.
The Tigers were out of timeouts, but Collin Whittington found some room on the left side and launched his shot from backcourt. It just missed the mark as Caldwell fell by three despite putting together one of its best efforts of the season.
Shaw topped Tilghman with a 24-point performance. Jayvion Powell added 11 points for the visitors.
Wilson tallied 20 points for Caldwell. Zavy Bumphus had 14 and Demaurius Thompson had 10.
The Tigers play at home again on Friday, finishing the regular season by hosting Livingston Central on Senior Night.
Caldwell will then face Hopkins County Central on Tuesday in the semifinals of the 7th District tournament in Mortons Gap.
Paducah Tilghman 19 11 14 17 — 61
Caldwell County 14 17 9 18 — 58
Paducah Tilghman (20-9)—Shaw 24, Powell 11, Harris 8, Williams 8, West 5, Woodfork 5, .
Caldwell County (5-21)—Wilson 20, Bumphus 14, Thompson 10, Ca. Whittington 8, Co. Whittington 4, Parker 2.
