The Christian County Colonels used a stifling defense and some timely shooting from junior guard Josh Bridges to stun top seeded Hopkinsville 57-53 and win the Boys’ District 8 Basketball Tournament Friday night in Tiger Gym.
Bridges scored all 13 of his points in the second half and made four free throws late to seal the victory for the Colonels (8-22).
The junior guard said the victory felt good, especially after no one gave them a chance after an 0-10 start to the season.
Hopkinsville (15-15) led only twice in the game at 1-0 and 3-2.
A 12-2 run to end the first quarter gave the Colonels a 14-5 lead after one quarter. While Christian County was expanding the lead, Hoptown was ice cold at the free throw line, making only 1 of 7 in the opening frame.
Despite being down double digits midway through the second quarter, the Tigers climbed back into the game on back-to-back 3-pointers by Jonathan Hart and trailed only 28-24 at halftime.
But, Christian County had a quick spurt to start the third quarter and pushed the lead back to nine. It was the story of the night for the Colonels, who fought off every challenge made by the Tigers.
Hopkinsville coach Anthony Babb said his team failed to execute on offense.
The Tigers tied the game at 36-36 with 7:35 to play, but Bridges answered the call again, scoring five unanswered points as part of a 10-1 spurt that gave Christian County a 46-37 lead with 4:20 to go.
The lead was too much of a deficit for Hoptown to overcome.
Layton Giltner’s basket with 6 seconds remaining cut the lead to 57-53 but the Colonels were able to run the clock out and celebrate their 29th District 8 Basketball Tournament championship in school history.
Giltner had a monster game for the Tigers with 13 points, 15 rebounds, and seven blocked shots. Bradley led Hoptown in scoring with 15 points.
Christian County also had double figures from Zion Acree, who had 12 points, Na’Darien Rowe with 11, and Kam Williams’ 10.
Christian County coach Dior Curtis said he was proud of his team for staying together and believing in itself after slow start to the season.
Both teams advance to the Region 2 Tournament next week at Madisonville-North Hopkins High School. Christian Count joins Henderson County, Lyon County, and Madisonville as district winners. Hopkinsville, Dawson Springs, Livingston Central, and Union County will be the runner-ups.
The Region draw meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday. The brackets, times, and dates of the tournament will be known at that time.
Photos by Peyton Biaquis