It was another tough loss Saturday for Hopkinsville as Owensboro rolled into town and found a three to secure a one point lead, 67-66, with under five seconds to go.
Head Coach Anthony Babb said in postgame they discussed no threes and no and-1 chances coming out of the timeout after Bubba Leavell hit two free throws to give the Tigers a two point lead.
Unfortunately, a great play drawn up by the Red Devils sucked the defense in.
Kenyatta Carbon, who averages twenty-two points per game and had scored fourteen of his team leading twenty-two in the second half, drove inside and the defense trying to help, and grab a possible rebound, crashed the paint.
Carbon however, was only trying to draw the defense in before he kicked the ball back out to Jonathan Moss in the deepest part of the left corner. Moss had scored eight already in the second half, after being held scoreless in the first, including two threes. What I mean to say is, he was feeling confident. He would sink a rainbow of a show, and that was all she wrote.
You could tell the loss weighed heavily on Hoptown as they led by double digits for much of the second and third quarters before it became a back-and-forth affair.
Much like Lyon County, the Tigers were shorthanded but put forth a valiant effort. Leavell led all scorers with twenty-five, Antonio Williams had eighteen points and seventeen rebounds. No one else scored better than seven points, but Isaiah Manning did also have ten rebounds.
Hoptown outrebounded the Red Devils 38-28 as well.
It was just another night where a few things did not go the way of the Tigers, and it cost them a big win.
Luckily they have a chance Tuesday to go on the road and get right. A very winnable game, just across the border at Clarkesville Northwest, who is 8-15 on the year.