The Madisonville-North Hopkins Maroons had to withstand a big night from Antonio Williams and go to overtime Wednesday to pick up an 81-77 win over the Hopkinsville Tigers in the First United Bank Holiday Classic. The Maroons survived a 45 point performance from Williams and beat the buzzer in regulation to force overtime.
The loss was the third straight for Hopkinsville.
Antonio Williams was almost unstoppable in the opening quarter for the Tigers. Williams scored 12 points, and DeReion Dudley added the other four as Hopkinsville took a 16-15 lead after one. The Tigers led by as many as five in the first eight minutes before the Maroons battled back and cut it to one.
Things did not slow down much for Williams in the second quarter. In fact, they picked up. Williams would out score Madisonville by himself in the opening half as he added 14 more to give him 26 at the break and the Tigers held a 38-25 lead at the break. The score was 24-23 midway through the second quarter when the Tigers exploded for a 14-2 run to close out the half.
The early portion of the third quarter saw the Maroons cut the lead to 10 at 44-34, and then things turned serious, and not in a competitive manner, but a concerning one. Madisonville’s Kanyon Johnson went strong to the basket for a slam, cutting the lead to 44-36. As Johnson came back down to the floor, those who saw what took place say it appeared that Hopkinsville’s Kentrell Adams was struck in the head, sending Adams to the floor.
Adams was down on the floor for about half an hour as training staff and ultimately first responders treated him. He would leave the gym on a stretcher to be taken for additional medical treatment. The two teams were sent to their respective locker rooms during the time Adams was on the court. After Adams was transported from the gym, both teams were asked whether or not they wanted to continue the contest and both teams agreed to press on after a short warm-up period.
As the game started back up, with a somewhat more reserved atmosphere, the Tigers appeared to be just a little off stride from the incident. Madisonville was able to take advantage and rip off a 15-6 run to take their first lead of the night at 51-50 late in the quarter. The Maroons got two late threes, including one at the buzzer from Landen Smith as Madisonville took a 57-53 lead into the final quarter.
Madisonville, behind the efforts of Aaron Richardson, extended the lead to 65-60 in the early moments of the fourth quarter. Led by Antonio Williams, Hopkinsville scored eight straight to take a 68-65 lead. Landen Smith nailed another three to even the score with 2:46 to go. Baskets from Williams and DeReion Dudley helped the Tigers out to a three-point lead at 73-70 in the waning moments of regulation. Madisonville had one final chance with 6 seconds left. The Tigers, who had fouls to give, fouled the Maroons with 4 seconds left to try and keep Madisonville from getting off a final shot.
Still the Maroons would get the ball in the hands to Aaron Richardson, who launched a contested three at the horn that found the bottom of the net to force overtime.
A Deavery Ramey 3-point play put the Tigers up 76-73 at the beginning of the overtime. But then fatigue and foul trouble began to take their toll on the Tigers as Madisonville scored seven straight to get to the lead and that would be the deciding lead of the night as Madisonville picked up the four point win.
In addition to Antonio Williams’ 45 points, DeReion Dudley finished with 14 points. Jarae Leavell came off the bench to add 7 points.
Aaron Richardson led the Maroons with 24 points. Kanyon Johnson hit double-figures with 12 and Maverick Peyton chipped in with 10.
Hopkinsville (4-4) will be back in Madisonville Thursday afternoon to take on Mayfield in their second game in the First United Bank Holiday Classic.
HHS — 16 22 15 20 4 – 77
MNHHS — 15 10 32 16 8 – 81
Hopkinsville – Williams 45, Dudley 14. Leavell 7, Ramey 5, Bradley 4, Hart 2
Madisonville – Richardson 24, Smith 19, Johnson 12, Peyton 10, Bryant 8, Coffman 5, Noffsinger 3
