After failing to reach the regional semifinals last season, the Madisonville-North Hopkins Maroons decided to make sure it did not happen again Thursday night. Ryan Bryant led three Maroons in double figures as Madisonville-North Hopkins rumbled past Union County 67-47 to move on to Monday night’s semifinals.
The win puts the Maroons in the semis for the fifth time in the last six years.
The teams spent a good part of the first quarter feeling each other out. The game was tied at 2-2, 4-4, 8-8, and 10-10. Jarren Johnson kept the Braves close early, scoring 7 points in the first eight minutes.
Madisonville was able to make a run late in the first, scoring the final seven points of the quarter to take a 17-10 lead. A big chunk of the damage for the Maroons was done by Ryan Bryant, who scored 8 points in the first eight minutes.
The Maroons and the Braves battled back and forth in the second quarter, playing each other pretty much even. Madisonville-North Hopkins left the door open for Union County to make a run on several occasions, but the Braves never walked through the door to get back in the game. A basket right before the halftime horn by Kanyon Johnson put the Maroons up 32-23 at the break and gave the Maroons a nice jolt of momentum heading into the break.
Ryan Bryant continued his big play for Madisonville-North Hopkins in the second quarter. Bryant ended the half with 11 points and 8 rebounds.
As the second half started, the Maroons took advantage of the momentum that carried over from Kanyon Johnson’s buzzer-beater just before the half. Landen Smith got hot to start the third quarter, scoring seven quick points as the Maroons opened the third with a 13-3 run to extend the lead out to 45-26.
Union County began to have ball safety issues against the Madisonville defense in the third and the Maroons took full advantage of the Braves’ miscues. The Braves had six turnovers in the quarter and the game in turn began to get away from Union County.
Ryan Bryant continued to be the story of the game for Madisonville, raising his totals to 15 points and 12 rebounds by the end of the third. Kanyon Johnson had six points in the quarter, most of those coming as the direct result of a Union County turnover as the Maroons pushed the Braves to the edge of the cliff with a 49-30 lead after three.
Kanyon Johnson and his Maroon teammates then went ahead and pushed the Braves over the edge early in the fourth quarter. Johnson scored a quick four points on highlight reel moves and the Maroons quickly converted on a trio of Union County turnovers to make it a 26-point game with just under six minutes left in the contest.
From that point, it was just a matter of the final score as the Maroons rolled on out to the 20 point win.
Ryan Bryant had a stellar night for the Maroons, finishing with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Kanyon Johnson and Landen Smith finished with 14 points each.
For Union County, Jarren Johnson was the leading scorer with 16 points. Jaidyn Wilson added 13 points and 9 rebounds for the Braves.
The Braves see their season come to an end at 13-18.
Madisonville-North Hopkins improves to 18-15 and will play in Monday night’s second semifinal at 7:30 at Hopkinsville High School.
UCHS — 10 13 7 17 – 47
MNHHS – 17 15 17 18 – 67
Union County – J. Johnson 16, Wilson 13, Miller 6, C. Johnson 5, Rapier 5, Black 2
Madisonville-North Hopkins – Bryant 17, Johnson 14, Smith 14, Richardson 8, Wilkes 6, Ratcliff 4, Gant 2, Howard 2
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Reed, Rob, Z, and Aaron are some of the best freshman that I’ve ever seen in my intire life.