University Heights Academy finished off a perfect run through 8th District opposition on Tuesday, overcoming a 34-point Homecoming performance from Antonio Williams to knock off hosts Hopkinsville 67-62. Playing their first game since an injury to leading scorer Tylin George, the Blazers erased a six-point fourth-quarter deficit to win their third straight and ninth in their last ten.
Williams got started for the Tigers with eight points in the first quarter, but the Blazers closed on a 9-0 run with a three-pointer by Devin Cherry and a pair of layups off steals by Gavin Grubbs to lead 18-13. Grubbs scored nine in the first on the way to a team-high 17.
The Tigers entered on the heels of seven losses in eight games but surged in front in the second quarter behind ten more points for Williams. UHA led by as many as seven in the frame, but Hoptown answered with a 12-2 run to nose in front 27-24 after a layup by DeAvery Ramey. Quinton Quarles beat the horn with a layup to narrow the Tigers’ lead to a point at the break.
The Tigers opened up a six-point advantage after Jonathan Hart connected on his second three-pointer of the game with 3:12 left in the third. Cherry and Grubbs came up with back-to-back layups off steals to trim the margin to one, before Williams converted a three-point play for the Tigers with :59 left in the quarter.
The teams closed with a flurry of points, beginning with a Quarles three. DeReion Dudley scored on a floater at the other end before Matthew Hauret drilled a corner three-pointer to tie the game at 48-48. Kyler Baker went 6/6 at the free throw line for the Blazers, but Williams capped a ten point quarter with a putback just before the horn to give Hopkinsville a two-point edge going to the fourth.
Hopkinsville took its largest lead of the game at 58-52 after a steal and dunk by Williams with 5:10 to play, but Quarles drilled his third triple of the night and Elijah Walton scored in the lane to halt the Tiger momentum. From there the Blazers outscored Hoptown 7-2, taking a three-point lead on Quarles layup and doing enough in two trips to the free throw line to seal the win.
Quarles scored 11 in the fourth to match Grubbs with 17 points. Baker also reached double figures with 13, including a 7/8 night at the foul line.
Hopkinsville slipped to 7-13, 1-2 in district play, ahead of a visit from Fort Campbell on Wednesday. The Tigers haven’t lost to the Falcons since 2006, a span of 36 games in the series.
UHA improved to 14-4 with its third straight win and ninth in ten outings. The Blazers will host Madisonville-North Hopkins on Thursday in search of a third straight win against the Maroons.
University Heights 18 10 20 19 — 67
Hopkinsville 13 16 21 12 — 62
University Heights (14-4) — Grubbs 17, Quarles 17, Baker 13, Walton 7, Cherry 5, Hauret 5, Pollard 3
Hopkinsville (7-13) — Williams 34, Dudley 9, Bradley 8, Hart 6, Ramey 5
