Despite a 32-point effort from KeShawn Moore on Friday night, the University Heights Academy boys’ basketball team slipped to a 90-74 season-opening defeat at South Warren.
Owen Shively staked the Spartans to a 21-15 lead with eight first-quarter points, overcoming 11 combined from the Blazers’ Moore and Hayden Hunt.
Clay Willis tossed in eight second-quarter points, and Shively knocked down a pair of threes to help South Warren extend the advantage to 11. Moore hit for 12 in the frame to go into the halftime break with 18 for the Blazers.
Ryan Luckey scored five, and Moore added six for UHA in the third to trim three points off the margin, but the Blazers still trailed 58-50 with a quarter to play.
The teams erupted to combine for 56 points in the fourth, with Jax Decker and Johan Pratt each knocking down two threes for the Spartans. Brandon Perkins added eight, and Shively scored seven to finish with a team-high 21.
Moore scored eight in the fourth to lead all scorers, followed by Nash McAfee with 15, and Luckey with 12.
The Spartans improved to 2-0 ahead of a trip to Metcalfe County on Tuesday. The Blazers will welcome Murray High to Hopkinsville on Monday with both teams looking for their first win of the season.
