Christian County and Webster County both had uncharacteristic region tournament droughts entering Wednesday’s quarterfinal at Madisonville.
Webster County hadn’t won an opening-round game since 2018. For Webster, it was 2017.
Christian County put an end to its streak as the Colonels picked up a 64-52 win over the Trojans and moved into Monday’s semifinals.
The Colonels led wire to wire but only had one double-digit lead in the first half. Webster County cur the Colonel lead to four points on three occasions in the fourth quarter. But the Trojans, normally a 63-percent free throw shooting team, hit 2-of-8 in the second half and 4-of-14 for the game.
The Colonels came out firing as Jordan Miles knocked down two 3-pointers early but it would be their only long-range makes of the half.
The Colonels hit 14-of-25 from the field in the first half but seven turnovers kept the Colonels from extending their lead.
Evan Michalek warmed up from the outside and hit three long-range shots as the Trojans outscored the Colonels 15-14 in the second frame.
Prince Northington’s runner ahead of the first half horn gave the Colonels a 30-23 lead at intermission.
The Colonels outscored Webster County 18-4 in the paint in the half and 36-16 for the game.
DeShawn Murphy, Webster County’s leading scorer at 17 points a game, did his best Clark Kent impersonation. Wearing his normal No. 24 jersey, Murphy scored six points in the first half. However, blood on his jersey prompted a switch to No. 10. The switch worked well as Murphy bolted from the phone booth in the second half to score seven points in the third quarter and finished with 19 for the game.
Michalek added 17 points.
Christian County put four players into double figures led by Miles’ 16 points. Derrell Bateman battled leg cramps in the fourth quarter to finish with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The Colonels shot 54-percent from the field and outrebounded Webster 37-17.
Christian County moved to 6-0 all-time against Webster County in the region tournament.
| Christian County 64 Webster County 52 | ||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| Webster County (17-13) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Deshawn Murphy 7-17 3-6 19; Evan Michalek 6-10 0-0 17; Luke Garrard 2-5 1-4 6; Micah Austin 2-9 0-0 5; Markus Austin 1-3 0-2 3; Jarvis Starks-Scott 1-1 0-2 2; Totals 19-45 4-14 52. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Christian County (19-12) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jordan Miles 5-9 3-4 16; Derrell Bateman 7-14 0-3 14; Ja’Sean Riley 4-6 2-3 11; Breland Morrison 4-5 2-4 10; Prince Northington 2-4 2-2 6; George Sanders 2-5 1-2 5; KJ Vaughn 1-3 0-0 2; Trey Blanton 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 25-46 10-18 64. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3-point goals-Webster County 10-25 (Evan Michalek 5-6; Deshawn Murphy 2-7; Micah Austin 1-7; Luke Garrard 1-3; Markus Austin 1-2), Christian County 4-11 (Jordan Miles 3-6; Ja’Sean Riley 1-1; Derrell Bateman 0-2; Prince Northington 0-1; KJ Vaughn 0-1).
Fouled out–Webster County-Jarvis Starks-Scott, Christian County-None. Rebounds-Webster County 17 (Markus Austin 5; Deshawn Murphy 5), Christian County 37 (Derrell Bateman 12). Assists– Webster County 9 (Micah Austin 2; Luke Garrard 2; Markus Austin 2) , Christian County 10 (Derrell Bateman 4). Total Fouls-Webster County 14, Christian County 13 |
