With a smaller team on the floor this year, Hopkinsville coach Anthony Babb knows his squad’s pressure defense will have to overcome that deficiency.
Hoptown’s defense pressured Trigg County into 33 turnovers and pounded the Wildcats 91-43 Tuesday in the season opener for both teams.
Lance Breckel opened the scoring for Trigg County with a 3-pointer, only to see Hopkinsville turn up its press and go on a 21-1 run. The Tigers scored 19 points off 11 Trigg first-quarter turnovers.
Antonio Williams scored 24 of his game-high 26 points in the first half, helping Hoptown extend its lead to as many as 38 points and triggering a running clock for the remainder of the game.
Trigg County hit 9 of 15 shots in the first half but couldn’t make any headway against Hoptown, who took 41 more shots.
The Tigers scored 50 points off 33 Trigg turnovers and outscored the Wildcats 56-12 in the paint.
Both teams shot over 42 percent from the field and combined to knock down 17 three-pointers.
Five Hoptown players scored in double figures aside from Williams. DeReion Dudley added 11 points, eight steals, and four assists. Jonathan Hart, Keontae Radford, and Jarae Leavell each scored 10 points.
Kahmani Bush came off the bench to score eight points for Trigg County. Jerimyah Shearer and Caleb Fogle each scored seven points.
The Wildcats played without last year’s leading scorer Jhaden Vaughn, who was unavailable Tuesday.
Hopkinsville upped its winning streak over Trigg County to 15 games dating back to 2006.
Trigg County will play at Meridian Mounds, Ill. on Friday.
Hopkinsville will play Ohio County on Saturday at Hopkins County Central.
| Hopkinsville 91, Trigg County 43 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Trigg County (0-1) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Kahmani Bush 3-4 0-0 8; Jerimyah Shearer 2-4 1-2 7; Caleb Fogle 2-5 1-2 7; Lance Breckel 2-4 0-0 6; Davaree Gude 1-4 2-4 4; Dasha Barnes 2-3 0-0 4; Joshaun Bridges 1-3 1-2 3; Landon Stewart 0-0 1-2 1; Matthew Reeves 0-2 1-2 1; Luke Terrell 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 14-33 7-14 43. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hopkinsville (1-0) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Antonio Williams 12-20 1-2 26; DeReion Dudley 5-16 0-0 11; Jonathan Hart 4-9 0-0 10; Keontae Radford 4-7 2-2 10; Jarae Leavell 4-6 0-0 10; Deshaun Garland 3-6 0-0 9; Artavius Moses 3-4 1-3 7; DeAvery Ramey 1-2 2-2 4; James Bradley 1-4 0-0 2; Curtis Dillard 1-7 0-0 2; Delbert Jackson 0-2 0-0 0; Totals 38-84 6-9 91. | ||||||||||||||||||
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3-point goals-Trigg County 8-17 (Jerimyah Shearer 2-3; Kahmani Bush 2-3; Lance Breckel 2-4; Caleb Fogle 2-5; Levi Watts 0-1; Matthew Reeves 0-1) , Hopkinsville 9-29 (Deshaun Garland 3-4; Jonathan Hart 2-7; Jarae Leavell 2-2; Antonio Williams 1-1; DeReion Dudley 1-6; DeAvery Ramey 0-1; Keontae Radford 0-1; James Bradley 0-2; Curtis Dillard 0-4; Delbert Jackson 0-1) . Rebounds-Trigg County 25 (Kahmani Bush 5) , Hopkinsville 35 (Antonio Williams 12) . Assists-Trigg County 11 (Jerimyah Shearer 3) , Hopkinsville 18 (Jarae Leavell 5) . Total Fouls-Trigg County 9, Hopkinsville 14. |
