If someone had said Christian County would beat Hopkinsville 82-52 to me before they faced off Saturday evening, I would have laughed out loud.
Both teams have had up and down years, both teams are truthfully very talented, and it being a rivalry game they are always played close.
Not to mention Hoptown was looking for revenge after losing a tight and down to the wire game on their home floor a month ago; and the Colonels have been notoriously inconsistent this year on their home floor.
Saturday night was a perfect storm however.
The Colonels could not miss, and I mean that in every way. Rebounds bounced their direction, defense seemed effortless and stealing the ball at times like taking Candy from a baby. Not to mention they actually could not miss, nailing five threes in the first half alone and watching circus shots fall as they drove downhill to the basket.
Derrell Bateman led all scorers with better than twenty points, he was aided by Jordan Miles and George Sanders also eclipsing double digits.
On the flip side, the Tigers just seemed out of sync. Credit to Christian County who obviously frustrated Hoptown and put them in difficult situations with ball pressure and denying driving lanes, but the Tigers are more than capable of overcoming those things.
On a night where Antonio Williams struggled, getting six of his ten points at the charity stripe, and Daisjuan Mercer did not get hot until late in the game, Bubba Leavell stepped up strong, especially in the first half to keep things close.
Mercer finished with fifteen, as did Leavell, but it was the inconsistency in scoring throughout combined with the inability of County to miss that doomed the Tigers.
Seriously, it was not bad defense overall by Hoptown, they had hands in faces, guarded the Colonels out beyond the three point line, and certainly did not allow for easy drives all that often; Christian County just had themselves a scorcher of a night shooting.
Lest we remember this same Hoptown team came back to beat Madisonville on the road by fifteen and County lost to the Maroons at home.
The Tigers more than handled their business defeating Evansville Bosse and have taken down other great teams like Atherton and Owensboro.
The Colonels have lost to Madisonville, Paducah Tilghman, Henderson County, and McCracken County all on their home floor; meanwhile they go on the road and beat Castle, Muhlenberg, Hoptown, Caldwell County, and go 5-3 in the volunteer state over a two week span.
Unfortunately for the rest of the district, the Colonels have handled business when it counted in that regard.
2-0 against the Tigers and 1-0 against UHA, means 3-0 overall and in the drivers seat for the one seed come the postseason.
Even if UHA defeats the Colonels in just under two weeks, the Blazers would need to sweep Hopkinsville as well to force any kind of tiebreaker scenario, and that is no easy task when the Tigers play even remotely up to their ability.
Not to mention, everyone still has two games with Fort Campbell. Will UHA, County, and Hoptown be favored in those six games against the Falcons, absolutely, but can anything happen, also absolutely.
For now, both the Tigers and the Colonels prepare for their first respective showdowns with Fort Campbell. Hoptown Tuesday on post, County Thursday at home for senior night.
After that it is a tick back up in competition as Hoptown hosts Lyon County Thursday and on the 30th the Colonels head to Warren Central.