The Hopkinsville Tigers basketball team is entering their final season ever before they combine with Christian County, and they kicked off their season against Hopkins County Central on the road. The Storm might have had home court advantage, but the Tigers were able to get the better of them 82-69.
Hopkinsville was very consistent over the course of the game, and that was evident by them scoring 20 points in each of the first two quarters. That was helped by Layton Giltner, who had 10 of his 12 points in the first half. As well as Jonovan Leavell, who had 11 points and two threes in the first two quarters.
As for the Storm, they had a bit more trouble getting going, scoring just 11 points in the first quarter. Their top performer of the half was Devante Jagoe, who had nine points in the half. But that was not enough to keep up, and the Storm went down 40-26 at the half.
Central gained back a bit of ground to start the third, making the score 41-33. But Hopkinsville was able to respond quickly with a run of their own, capped off by a three from Curtis Dillard that took the lead to 51-33, and caused the Storm to call a timeout.
A few minutes later, Storm guard Blaze Sumner got a steal and score, and then hit a big three that trimmed the lead to just nine and force a late timeout. A bit more back and forth, and then a score from Hopkinsville at the end of the quarter gave them a 60-50 lead heading into the final period.
The two teams began trading buckets to start the fourth, making the score 68-57 in favor of the Tigers at a timeout. But after that, Hopkinsville was able to grab the momentum and make it 78-60 late in the quarter. Central’s Peyton Smith was able to put in a few buckets, but is was too little too late, and Hopkinsville closed it out 82-69.
TaShaun Quarles led the way in scoring for the Tigers with 20, and Jayven Battle also contributed 13 of his own.
As for the Storm, Sumner led in scoring with 17, while Jagoe and Davonyae Butcher had 13 and 12, respectively.
Hopkinsville will be looking to begin a win streak to start their final season in their next game against the Eagles of Graves County on Saturday, December 6. The game will be played at Muhlenberg County as part of the Farmer’s Bank and Trust Tip-Off Classic, and will tip off at 4:30 p.m.
The Storm will hope to bounce back on Monday, December 8, against Crittenden County at home. That game ie scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.
