Henderson County ‘Blocks’ Hopkinsville From Advancing to Region Semis

Call it a ‘block party’ in Thursday night’s first game at the 2nd Region tournament. Henderson County used a sometimes stifling defense, especially in the first half, and got big games from Cooper Davenport and Lacon McKinney to get past the Hopkinsville Tigers 79-58 Thursday night in the quarterfinal round of the Boys’ 2nd Region tournament at Madisonville-North Hopkins. Henderson built a big first half lead and then turned back a Hopkinsville comeback attempt in the second half to snag the win.

The win advances the Colonels to the regional semifinals for the third consecutive season.

The Henderson defense has been the Colonels’ strength all season long, and the start of the game was no different Thursday night. Henderson County allowed Hopkinsville just one field goal in the first 3:31 of the game as the Colonels took an 8-2 lead. The Colonels blocked three Tiger shots in the early moments.

On offense, Lacon McKinney scored six of Henderson’s first eight points. His last bucket in that stretch prompted a timeout from Hopkinsville coach Anthony Babb with 4:29 to go in the first.

Hopkinsville responded with a quick five-point spurt, capped off by a three from Jonathan Hart that cut the lead to 10-7 and led to a Henderson County timeout.

Out of the timeout, the Colonels shut out the Tigers over the rest of the first to take a 14-7 lead after one. Lacon McKinney was a big factor in Henderson County having the early lead, scoring 8 points in the opening quarter.

The good news for Hopkinsville fans was that after a quick start, the Henderson shooting cooled off, and the Tigers were able to hang around for the rest of the quarter. The bad news was that it didn’t last for very long.

Henderson County quickly found its offensive mojo as the second quarter got underway and got things rolling. Leading 19-11 early in the second, the Colonels hit for a 9-0 run that blew the lead out to 28-11. Henderson would lead by as many as 18 points before Hopkinsville trimmed the lead to 35-20 at the half.

Five different Colonels scored in the quarter. On defense, Henderson County gave up just two Hopkinsville field goals, a two from James Bradley Jr. and a three from Treston Kay.

A big first half from Cooper Davenport and big man Lacon McKinney for the Colonels as the duo combined to score 25 points. The Henderson defense did not make things easy for the Tigers as the Colonels blocked six shots in the half. Hopkinsville would end up shooting just 5 of 25 from the field for 20 percent, while the Colonels ended up 12 of 27 for 44.4 percent.

But give the Hopkinsville Tigers their due, they would not let Henderson County run away and hide in this one.

Trailing by 15 points at the break, Hopkinsville needed to pick up the offensive pace to try and get back in the game, and that they did in the first few minutes of the third quarter. Five different Tigers scored in the first 2:44 of the third as Hopkinsville cut the lead to 42-30 and led Henderson coach Tyler Smithhart to call a timeout.

The pace of the game continued to pick up as the quarter went on, but the problem for the Tigers was that they were not able to slow down the Henderson County offense enough to chew into the lead. With just over two minutes to go in the third, Henderson County still led by 13 points at 50-37.

The Tigers would get as close as 10 points after a three-point play from James Bradley Jr. The lead would be 54-42 as the quarter came to an end.

After struggling offensively in the first half and scoring just 20 points, Hopkinsville got rolling and put up 22 points in the third. On defense, Henderson County added three more blocks to their total to get to nine through the first three quarters.

Hopkinsville kept pushing the pace of play as the fourth quarter opened. The Tigers closed to within 10 twice early in the quarter and had a chance to get within single digits, but Layton Giltner’s jumper was blocked, and that would end up leading to a Cooper Davenport three and a 61-48 lead.

Out of a timeout, James Bradley scored an old-fashioned three-point play to get the Tigers back within 10 at 61-51 with just under five minutes to go. But that would be as close as Hopkinsville would get.

Henderson County got a basket from Trajdon Davis, followed by a three from Cooper Davenport, and the lead was out to 66-51 with just 2:39 to go in the game.

The Colonels would close out the game with a 13-7 finish to get to the final 21-point margin.

Cooper Davenport led four Colonels in double figures with 28 points, including four 3-pointers. Lacon McKinney and Xavion Johnson ended up with 16 points each. Elijah Suggs added 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 blocked shots.

For Hopkinsville, James Bradley Jr. hit for 19 points, 13 of them coming in the second half. Layton Giltner finished his night with 10 points. Jonathan Hart and Jonovan Leavell scored 8 points each.

A big factor in the game was in the interior defense of the Colonels, which had 12 blocks in the game, 11 of those from Elijah Suggs.

Hopkinsville shot much better in the second half, 51.5 percent, but still just hit 37.9 percent for the game. Henderson County shot 49.2 percent for the game.

With the win, Henderson County improves to 23-6 on the season and will advance to next Tuesday night’s regional semifinals in Madisonville.

Hopkinsville’s season ends at 15-16.