The Christian County Colonels picked a really bad time to hit a dry spell, a really bad time. The Colonels had rallied after trailing by as many as 9 points in the first half to take the lead late in the third quarter and looked to have everything going their way. And then, it all turned on a dime.
James Bradley Jr. scored five quick points to ignite a devastating 19-0 run that stretched over the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter as the Hopkinsville Tigers came roaring back to take a 56-44 win in the 8th District championship, the final game to be played in Tiger Gym.
Hopkinsville’s defense simply gave the Colonels very little over an eight minute stretch. The lead was at 53-36 when Tom Johnson knocked down a three for the Colonels with 52 seconds left, the first field goal for Christian County since taking a 33-32 lead late in the third quarter.
Getting a boost from Darren Bigbee, Christian County took a quick 5-2 lead at the start of the game, leading Hopkinsville coach Anthony Babb to take a timeout to settle his team down.
With the trio of Jayven Battle, Jayon Bass, and Jonovan Leavell providing the spark, the Tigers worked their way into a 16-9 lead. Curtis Dillard knocked down a three with 2 second to go in the opening quarter that gave Hopkinsville a 21-14 lead after one.
Darren Bigbee almost single-handedly kept the Colonels in the contest early on, putting up nine points in the first eight minutes.
Christian County’s defense put the clamps on the Tigers early on in the second quarter, holding Hopkinsville without a field goal for the first five and a half minutes of the quarter. The problem for the Colonels was that they were not able to take advantage of their strong defensive effort on the offensive end of the court. The Colonels trimmed just two points off the lead during that time.
Jayon Bass finally got the Tigers a bucket with 2:23 to go in the half, making it 26-19. The half ended with Hopkinsville equalling the biggest lead of the night at 30-21.
Christian County opened the third quarter in the same manner in opened the second. The difference this time was that the Colonels were able to take advantage of what their defense was getting done. Christian County staggered the Tigers with a 12-2 run to open the third quarter, giving the Colonels their first lead since 5-4 way back in the first quarter.
But then Tigers cranked up the defense to another level and the offensive well dried up for the Colonels. Nineteen points later, the Tigers were making plans to enter the regional tournament as the 8th District champs.
Jonovan Leavell, Curtis Dillard, and Jayon Bass led Hopkinsville with 11 points each. TaShaun Quarles ended up with 10 points and 7 rebounds. James Bradley Jr. added 8 points and 6 rebounds. Bradley also reached 1,000 career points with a free throw in the third quarter.
Darren Bigbee was the only Colonel to hit double digits with 11 points. Rahsean Stevenson and Tom Johnson finished with 9 points each. Stevenson also had 11 rebounds.
One of the big stories for the game was the Hopkinsville ‘swat’ patrol down inside the lane. The Tigers finished the game with six blocks. Layton Giltner and Jayon Bass had two each.
Hopkinsville improves to 17-13 for the season and will head into the 2nd Region tournament as a district champion. The Tigers will face Livingston Central, Union County, or Madisonville-North Hopkins in the opening round on either Wednesday or Thursday at Madisonville.
Christian County falls to 13-13. The Colonels will play Lyon County, Hopkins County Central, or Henderson County in the opening round of the 2nd Region tournament.
Barring a meeting in the regional final, Friday night’s game was the final meeting between the two programs before this summer’s consolidation. Hopkinsville has won the last three games in the series, all coming this season.
The two teams have played in the four of the last five 8th District championships. Hopkinsville won in 2022 and this year. Christian County won in 2023 and 2025. Hopkinsville won the semifinal meeting between the two teams in 2024.
