Webster County rallied from 11 points down in the third quarter to spoil Caldwell County’s home opener Friday night.
The Trojans battled back to tie the game at 57-57 through three quarters, then scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter to grab the upper hand.
Caldwell (1-1) got back within 73-70 in the final minute before Webster got out of Princeton with an 81-72 victory in its season opener.
Webster freshman Caleb Bumpus poured in 30 points to outduel Caldwell junior Pax Aikins, who scored 29 for the second straight game.
Bumpus got 22 of his points in the second half. Aikins scored 17 points in the first half and finished with four 3-pointers.
Caldwell, which won at Heritage Christian Academy on Thursday, led for much of the night, getting to halftime with a 40-34 advantage before stretching the margin to 11 points multiple times in the third quarter.
The Tigers were up 57-46 before Webster stormed back to tie things heading into the fourth quarter.
After falling behind by 10, Caldwell tried to make a run of its own. A 3-pointer by Mitchell Phelps had the Tigers within three with still 1:48 to play.
After two missed free throws, Caldwell got the ball back with a chance to tie. But a turnover proved costly. Webster’s Gage Hardrick came up with the steal and drove in for a bucket to make it 75-70 with 1:39 to go.
Reid McDyer added 14 points for the Trojans. Jace Shelton had 12 and Hardrick 10.
Phelps added 14 for Caldwell.
Webster was 18 of 24 at the free throw line, with Bumpus making all nine of his tries.
Caldwell was 8 of 14 at the stripe.
Caldwell next heads to Madisonville-North Hopkins on Tuesday for 7th District action.
Webster will host Heritage Christian Academy on Monday.
Webster County 20 14 23 24 — 81
Caldwell County 24 16 17 15 — 72
Webster County (1-0)—Bumpus 30, McDyer 14, Shelton 12, Hardrick 10, Alstadt 8, Phelps 4, Hardison 3.
Caldwell County (1-1)—Aikins 29, Phelps 14, Lander 7, Roach 7, Boyd 6, K. Wilson 6, Wells 3.
