Trailing by a single point inside the final minute on Friday in the Faupel Automotive/Chevrolet GMC Ford Colonel Classic, a trio of empty trips left the Hopkinsville Tigers with a 60-52 loss to Owensboro Catholic.
Luke Beickman scored six first-quarter points for the Aces, and they led by a point despite a strong start from Hopkinsville’s Deavery Ramey.
Ronald Smith and Waryn Ebelhar combined for eight in the second quarter, and Beickman added five for O-Cath. Layton Giltner scored five for the Tigers, but they trailed 30-27 at the halftime break.
Hopkinsville only managed ten points in the third quarter, and Beickman tacked on seven more to help the Aces to a 44-37 advantage with a quarter to play.
The Tigers cut the deficit to a point at 53-52 with less than a minute to play before Ebelhar connected on a pair of free throws for a three-point edge. Ebelhar came up with a steal and layup, and a Hoptown miss put Dremail Carothers at the line with 15 seconds left.
He hit one of two, and another Tiger missed shot put the game out of reach. O-Cath’s Bieckman dropped a pair of free throws to ice the win and finish with a game-high 23 points.
Ramey led the Tigers with 12 points, followed by Jonathan Hart with 10, and Layton Giltner with eight and seven rebounds.
Ebelhar joined Beickman in double figures with 13 for the Aces, followed by Smith with 12, and Carothers with ten.
Hopkinsville slipped to 3-6 ahead of a matchup with South Warren on Saturday. Owensboro Catholic improved to 3-5 with its second win in a row and will face Oldham County on Saturday.
Hopkinsville 12 15 10 15 — 52
O-Catholic 13 17 14 16 — 60
Hopkinsville (3-6) — Ramey 12, Hart 10, Giltner 8, Bradley 7, Bass 6, Leavell 5, Moses 4
Owensboro Catholic (3-5) — Beickman 23, Ebelhar 13, Smith 12, Carothers 10, Randolph 2
