Madisonville-North Hopkins will play for its 16th straight 7th District championship on Thursday, but not without enduring some anxious moments late in Monday’s semifinal matchup with Hopkins County Central.
The top-seeded Maroons led for much of the night, but a late rally by the Storm got the No. 4 seed the lead at 63-62 when Channing Stone hit two free throws with 42 seconds left in the contest.
Hopkins Central (10-16) got the ball back following a tie-up, and Lake Sumner went to the free throw line with just 31 seconds to play. He hit the first to make it a 64-62 game, but the second came off and was rebounded in the corner by Landen Smith.
Smith hurried the ball into frontcourt, regained control after the ball was knocked away momentarily, then buried a contested 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Maroons back in front 65-64.
It was part of a 27-point performance by Smith, who scored 21 points in the second half — 14 of those in the third period behind four 3-pointers.
That helped bail out the Maroons on a night when the offense struggled at times, although Ryan Bryant did add 14 points for Madisonville.
Stone had 21 points to lead Hopkins Central, with 15 of those in the second half. Sumner added 18 and Karon Hopson had 13.
Madisonville led 17-13 after one quarter, 36-31 at halftime and 55-49 through three quarters before the Storm grabbed the lead in the final minute.
But Smith’s late 3-pointer put the Maroons back in front.
Peyton Smith hit two free throws with 5.5 seconds left to account for the final score.
Hopkins Central got off a last-second shot from near midcourt that would have tied the game, but it missed to the left as Madisonville advanced.
The Maroons (14-12) will take on Dawson Springs (17-14) in Thursday’s 6 p.m. championship game in Princeton. The Panthers knocked out host Caldwell County 85-75 in Monday’s late semifinal game.
Hopkins Central 13 18 18 15 — 64
Madisonville-NH 17 19 19 12 — 67
Hopkins County Central (10-16)—Stone 21, L. Sumner 18, Hopson 13, Hoard 7, B. Sumner 4.
Madisonville-North Hopkins (14-12)—L. Smith 27, Bryant 14, P. Smith 7, Johnson 6, Underwood 5, Cheirs 4, Nichols 3, T. Smith 1.
