Henderson County got off to a quick start and it was too much for Hopkinsville to overcome as the Colonels eliminated the Tigers from the Region 2 Basketball Tournament 79-58 Thursday night at Madisonville-North Hopkins High School.
The tournament favorite Colonels jumped out to a 14-7 lead after one quarter and led 35-20 at halftime. Seniors Lacon McKinney and Cooper Davenport combined to score 25 of Henderson’s first half points.
Meanwhile, Hoptown’s offense struggled. The Tigers connected on only five first-half baskets, including two 3-pointers, one each by Jonathan Hart and Treston Kay.
In the second half, James Bradley Jr. and Layton Giltner tried to keep the Tigers in the game. Bradley finished with 19 points, including 13 in the final two quarters. Giltner had eight of his 10 points in the last two frames.
Hopkinsville (15-16) outscored the Colonels 22-19 in the third quarter to draw within 54-42 entering the final period.
But Davenport and the Colonels (23-6) made sure there would be no comeback for the Tigers, outscoring Hopkinsville 25-16 in the final frame.
Davenport led all scorers with 28 points including making four 3-pointers in the second half. McKinney finished with 16 points and Xavion Johnson added 14, 11 of those in the second half.
Henderson advances to play three-time defending champion Lyon County in Thursday night’s 7:30 p.m. semifinals. The Lyons defeated Dawson Springs 87-69 in the second game on Thursday.
Madisonville-North Hopkins and Union County advanced to the semifinals on Wednesday night and will meet in the 6 p.m. game on Tuesday night. WHOP will broadcast both games with airtime set for around 5:50 p.m. on Tuesday night.
The championship game is scheduled for 7 p.m. on March 18. WHOP also will broadcast that game.
Score by Quarters:
Hopkinsville 7 13 22 16 – 58
Henderson Co. 14 21 19 25 – 79
Individual Scoring:
HHS (15-16) – Hart 8, Bradley 19, Kay 5, Bass 6, Giltner 10, Burse 2, Leavell 8.
HCHS (23-7) – Johnson 14, Davenport 28, Moss 7, Suggs 10, McKinney 16, Davis 4.
3-Point Goals: HHS – Hart 2, Kay; HCHS – Davenport 4, Moss.
File Photo