A season that has seen its share of ups and downs for the Christian County Colonels took a big jump upward Friday night, capping off a big week in the 8th District tournament. The Colonels trailed only twice, at 1-0 and at 3-2, as they locked down the Hopkinsville Tiger offense for most of the night on their way to a 57-53 win in the district championship game at Hopkinsville High School.
The title is the Colonels’ second in the last three years and third since the 2019-2020 season.
The story of the early going in the game was the defense from Christian County. The Colonels opened the game playing ‘in your face’ defense and not allowing the Tigers any good looks at the basket. A 9-0 run for Christian County midway through the first turned a 3-2 deficit into an 11-3 lead.
Christian County limited Hopkinsville to just two field goals in the first 8 minutes as the Colonels took a 14-5 lead after one. Hopkinsville did not help its cause any at the free throw line in the quarter. The Tigers were just 1 of 7 at the stripe.
Zion Acree had a great start for Christian County, putting up seven points in the first.
With the defense continuing to lead the way, the Christian County lead reached as many as 11 points in the first part of the second quarter.
Both teams were getting after each other and the defense was controlling much of the flow of play in both directions. The offenses for both teams found some footing late in the half and the scoring pace picked up a bit.
Jonathan Hart, who had been limited to just a free throw in the first quarter, knocked down a couple of threes late in the half. His shooting, along with the inside play of Layton Giltner, brought the Tigers to within 28-24 at the half.
The defensive pressure from both teams as the second half got underway led to physical play and that in turn resulted in limited scoring opportunities for both teams in the third quarter. Both teams managed just three field goals. Hopkinsville got two from Jayon Bass and Christian County got two from Kam Williams.
Hopkinsville was able to trim the lead to 36-35 at the end of the quarter due to free throw shooting. The Tigers were 5 of 8 at the line while Christian County was just two of six.
The play in the paint was intense as both teams were crashing the boards and trying their best to protect the rim. Hopkinsville got big plays from Layton Giltner and James Bradley Jr. and the Colonels got some big efforts down low from Rahsean Stevenson and Zyon Wharton.
The Tigers pulled even early in the final quarter at 36-36 on a free throw from Jayon Bass. NaDarien Rowe then drilled a three that put Christian County up for good at 39-36. That three was part of a 10-1 run that saw the Colonels run the lead back out to 46-37.
The play of Josh Bridges was key to the run and would continue to be a crucial part of the Christian County effort to fight to hold on for the win. The last few minutes of the game were spurts by the Colonels to extend the lead and spurts back the other way by the Tigers to try and get back to the lead.
Hopkinsville cut the lead to 41-37. Christian County pushed it back out to 50-41. The Tigers trimmed it to 50-47. The Colonels made four free throws and the lead was back up to 54-47.
Hopkinsville could not get closer than four points down the stretch due to Christian County being dead on at the free throw line. The Colonels were 8 of 8 at the charity stripe in the final quarter. Josh Bridges was 5 of 5, Rahsean Stevenson 2 of 2, and NaDarien Rowe 1 of 1. The only miscue at the line in the fourth was a lane violation for the Colonels.
Josh Bridges was outstanding to end the game, scoring 11 points in the final eight minutes. He led four Colonels in double figures with 13 points. Zion Acree finished with 12. NaDarien Rowe added 11 and Kam Williams scored 10.
James Bradley Jr. was the leading scorer for Hopkinsville with 15 points. Layton Giltner hit for 14 points and had a big night on the glass for the Tigers. Jayon Bass just missed double digits with 9.
Christian County improves to 8-22 on the season and will head into the regional tournament as a district champion and will face Livingston Central, Union County, or Dawson Springs.
Hopkinsville falls to 15-15 with the loss. The Tigers will head off to next week’s boys’ 2nd Region tournament in Madisonville as a district runner-up and will face Lyon County, Henderson County, or Madisonville-North Hopkins.
The regional draw is set for Saturday morning at 9am.
