Tim Haworth returned to Hopkinsville’s Tiger Gym on Saturday for the Toyota of Hopkinsville Classic. One night after dispatching the Christian County Colonels on their home floor, Haworth’s Male Bulldogs held off Hopkinsville.
It was a homecoming for Haworth, who was 200-58 in eight seasons as head coach of Hopkinsville High School from 2010-18 and left as the school’s second-winningest coach.
The Tigers won five district and five region titles under Haworth, including four straight from 2012 to 2015.
At Male, Haworth’s teams are 126-38 with three region titles. Last year’s team advanced to the second round of the KHSAA Sweet 16.
When Haworth wasn’t shaking hands and exchanging hugs with people he hadn’t seen since his departure to Louisville six years ago, he was swapping stories and memories.
Some of those stories were with Hopkinsville coach Anthony Babb who was on his Hoptown staff.
“I love this place. I love Babb. I love the whole coaching staff, the players, and the community here. It’s just home for me, and it was amazing being back,” he said.
Haworth got a chance to see both Hopkinsville squads up close and has similar thoughts on both.
Against Hoptown, Male shot 55% from the field, including 12 of 25 behind the arc. But the Tigers were accurate from the field as well, knocking down 56% from the field and owning a 41-28 advantage on the glass.
The Tigers got 29 points and 19 rebounds from Antonio Williams to offset six 3-pointers and 26 points from sophomore sharpshooter Cole Edelen.
Despite leading for double-digits for most of the game, Male had trouble putting Hopkinsville away in the fourth quarter and the Tigers got to within five points late.
“I think Hoptown really, really showed a lot of fight for 32 minutes. You know, we had a 20-point lead there, and, it’s on us to be able to close out games,” Haworth said. “Coach Babb’s teams are always going to fight and they never gave up.”
One night earlier, Male had a bit of an easier time with Christian County, beating the Colonels 79-49 at Lyle Dunbar Gymnasium.
Male again shot well from the field, knocking down 48% of its shots including 10 from behind the arc.
The Bulldogs defense was able to force 24 Colonel turnovers and held a 39-30 advantage on the glass.
Derrell Bateman led the Colonels with 15 points and six rebounds.
“I think they struggle to shoot from the perimeter, so they’re going to try to find a way to either make some shots or try to get inside more and penetrate to beat the high-level teams,” said Haworth adding, “I think Bateman’s a stud. I think he just has a lot of fight in him.”
Christian County owns a 47-39 district win over Hopkinsville with upcoming district games with Heritage Christian Academy (Thursday), University Heights Academy (Jan. 26), and Fort Campbell (Feb. 8) as well as a return match with Hopkinsville at Tiger Gym on Jan. 19.
Hopkinsville plays UHA on Jan. 30 and Feb. 9 and has two with Fort Campbell on Jan. 31 and Feb. 12. The Tigers will play Heritage Christian Academy on Feb. 3.
As for Haworth and his Male Bulldogs, they return to Louisville with an 11-4 record and begin play Monday night in the Republic Bank Louisville Invitational Tournament against Seneca (6-5). Male is ranked fourth in the current 7th Region KHSAA RPI behind DuPont Manual, Trinity, and St. Xavier.
