The first game in the series in the final year of basketball for the Hopkinsville Tigers and the Christian County Colonels goes to the team in the black and orange. The Tigers never trailed after the first quarter and went on to claim a 61-49 win over their crosstown rivals.
The Colonels got a good start from Jay Henderson as they took the early lead at 6-3 and then extended it out to 9-5. But then turnovers started to have an impact on what the Colonels were trying to get done on the offensive end of the court.
Those turnovers led to scoring opportunities for the Tigers as Hopkinsville went on an 8-0 run to close out the opening quarter with a 13-9 lead.
Sparked by the play of Jayven Battle and James Bradley Jr., the Tigers carried that momentum over into the start of the second quarter. Hopkinsville would extend the lead to as many as 10 points at 25-15.
Late in the half, it was the Christian County defense that began to force the Tigers into some ball security issues and the Colonels finished the half on a 9-2 run to close to within 27-24 at the half.
Hopkinsville came out of the break and got right to work on extending the lead. Four different Tigers scored in the first three minutes of the third quarter as the lead grew to 39-28, prompting a timeout from Christian County coach Dior Curtis.
The lead reached as many as 13 points on a couple of occasions, the last coming at 45-32. Christian County got some big baskets late in the quarter from Tom Johnson, James Farley, and Rahsean Stevenson as the Colonels cut the Hopkinsville lead to 47-40 heading into the final eight minutes of the game.
The Colonels got a pair of free throws to open the fourth quarter and draw within 47-42 but that would be as close as Christian County could get.
Getting a big boost from TaShaun Quarles and James Bradley Jr., Hopkinsville went on a 14-4 blitz over the next few minutes that settled the matter for the night as the Tigers went on to take the 12-point victory.
TaShaun Quarles topped the scoring column for the Tigers with 19 points, 14 of them coming in the second half as Christian County could not come up with a way to contain the Hopkinsville big man down inside. James Bradley Jr added 16 points and 9 rebounds. Jayven Battle also hit double figures with 12. Jayon Bass added 7 points and 6 rebounds.
Christian County was paced by Jay Henderson with 19 points. Darren Bigbee was also in double figures with 10 points. The Hopkinsville defense limited Rahsean Stevenson to 6 points and 5 rebounds.
Christian County (7-6) was originally scheduled to take on Heritage Christian Saturday, but HCA has decided to forfeit the game. The Colonels will travel to Henderson Tuesday.
Hopkinsville (9-7) gets back to action Saturday when the Tigers host Madisonville-North Hopkins.
