The Hopkins County Central Storm went into their matchup with Marshall County looking to build on their last win against Crittenden County. Unfortunately they were unable to do that, as the Marshals made the most of their home floor and beat the Storm 77-51.
Hopkins Central owned the first few minutes of the first quarter, taking a 14-9 lead into a timeout with just under three and a half minutes left. But Marshall County was able to go on an 8-0 run to take the lead.
Samari Pettus made a tough floater to end the run, but Matthew Langhi made a mid-range to end the quarter and put the Marshals up 19-16 after the first eight minutes.
Marshall then started to force some Hopkins Central turnovers which led to a 7-0 run to start the second quarter and force a timeout. This run grew all the way to 14-0, and was eventually ended by a Pettus layup where he also got fouled.
There was some back and forth the rest of the quarter, but the Storm’s Neilan Bruce made a floater in the final second to make it 41-22 going into the half.
Central got off to a quick 5-0 run of their own to start the third coming out of the locker room. That, as well as a pair of threes from Blaze Sumner cut the Marshall lead to just eight. But a fast 6-0 run from the Marshals got the lead back to 14 going into the final period.
Marshall County went on another run to start the fourth quarter, and that helped them close out the game and get their fourth win in a row.
This is the fourth straight time the Marshals have been able to best the Storm, with the last Hopkins Central win in the all-time series being in 2005.
But the loss does not mean that the Storm did not have their solid performances in the game.
The team had three players score in double-digits, and the leading scorer was Sumner. He finished with 13 points, and did so with a trio of made shots from beyond the arc in the third quarter. Vonyae Butcher and Devontae Jagoe also got into double figures with 13 and 10, respectively.
Hopkins Central will be looking to bounce right back from the loss in their next game against the Fort Campbell Falcons on Tuesday, February 17. Their game will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Hopkins County Central High School.
