Five players reached double figures and the University Heights Academy boys’ basketball team steadily pulled away from Pearl-Cohn on Saturday at the City of Hopkinsville Holiday Classic. The 83-60 victory is the Blazers’ fifth in six outings to improve to 8-3 ahead of a trip to Fort Campbell on Monday.
The Blazers started the game with a 9-2 run to take control and led 21-9 after Matthew Hauret’s steal and layup just ahead of the first-quarter horn. Kyler Baker scored seven early points, including a dunk in traffic to double up Pearl-Cohn, and Gavin Grubbs and Tylin George combined for ten for UHA.
Que Quarles posted five points in the second for the Blazers, and the lead reached 20 points at 39-19 after Devin Cherry knocked down a corner three-pointer. Javion Kinnard scored ten points in the frame to keep Pearl-Cohn in the game, including a three inside the final minute to trim the margin to 16 at the halftime break.
Despite ten points for Grubbs in the third, the Firebirds weren’t going away. LaDamion Hunter capped an 8-2 spurt with his second triple of the quarter to cut the deficit to single digits before Grubbs connected on a pair of free throws in the final seconds to restore an 11-point advantage with a quarter to play.
A Brian Jones three-pointer pulled Pearl-Cohn to within ten at 60-50, but the Blazers responded with a 14-4 run to put the game away. Back-to-back Grubbs floaters in the lane and a three from Quarles made it 74-54 and forced a Firebird timeout with 4:17 to play. UHA led by as many as 25 before taking the air out of the ball down the stretch.
Grubbs paced the Blazers with 21 points, including 16 in the second half. Quarles scored 14, Baker finished with 13, and Elijah Walton and George each had 12.
Kinnard led all scorers with 22 for the Firebirds, followed by Caleb Davis with ten.
Pearl-Cohn 9 15 23 13 –60
UHA 21 20 17 25 — 83
Pearl-Cohn (6-8) — Kinnard 22, Davis 10, Hunter 8, Jones 8, Johnson 7, Donaldson 3, Saulter 2
UHA (8-3) — Grubbs 21, Quarles 14, Baker 13, George 12, Walton 12, Hauret 4, Northington 4, Cherry 3
