The Hopkinsville girls’ basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 57-51 win over visiting Muhlenberg County on Friday night. The Lady Mustangs have lost three of their last four and slip to 14-8, while the Lady Tigers move to 15-7.
The Lady Mustangs held a slight lead in the first quarter, before a layup by junior forward Jayla Rose off an assist from junior guard Yogianah McKnight gave the Lady Tigers a 6-5 lead. With 1:23 left in the first quarter, Muhlenberg County pulled ahead 11-6 on a three-pointer, forcing a Hopkinsville timeout. Rose finished on another layup as time expired on the first quarter to cut the Lady Mustang lead to 15-13.
Rose hit two free throws to tie the game early in the second, before assisting on a layup by 8th grade forward Donisha Flowers to take a 17-15 lead. Junior point guard Breon Oldham scored with 4:07 left in the half to stretch the Lady Tiger lead to 5, but with just over a minute to play the Lady Mustangs scored 5 straight to regain the lead at 27-24. Hoptown turned the ball over twice in the last minute, before Rose went to the line with :0.9 left, hitting one of two free throws to cut the Muhlenberg lead to 31-27 at the break.
Rose led the way for the Lady Tigers with 11, followed by freshman forward Lakayla Samuel’s 10 and Oldham with 5.
Hopkinsville forced a turnover to start the second half, and trimmed the margin to 2 on a Samuel layup assisted by Rose. With 5:03 left in the quarter, McKnight scored on a lay-in to get within 3, before the Lady Tigers forced a walk and got the ball trailing 39-38 with just over two minutes left in the frame. Foster found Rose ahead of the Lady Mustang press as time expired, and the lead was 45-44 going into the final period.
Oldham hit Rose for a layup to give Hoptown its first lead since the second quarter at 46-45, and the two teams went back and forth until two Lady Mustang free throws gave them a 50-46 lead with 4:07 to play. Lady Tiger senior point guard London Foster nailed a huge three-pointer to shave the lead to 1, and Oldham scored with 1:22 to play to once again give Hopkinsville the lead at 51-50. With the lead, the Lady Tigers looked to run down the clock, and Muhlenberg was forced to foul. The Lady Mustangs weren’t called for their first second-half foul until only five minutes remained, and committed their second with a minute and a half left. Muhlenberg had to waste precious seconds taking repeated fouls to get the Lady Tigers to the bonus, finally forcing free throws with :38 left. Oldham took over from there, knocking down six straight free throws to salt the game away and give the Lady Tigers the 57-51 win.
Rose led the Lady Tigers with 19, followed by Oldham’s 13, including 8 in the final quarter. Samuel finished with 10, Foster had 6, Flowers scored 4, King had 3, and McKnight had a basket. For the Lady Mustangs, senior forward Erica Cary scored 13, and senior guard Reagan Blackburn had 10.
The Lady Tigers have their second meeting in eight days with 8th District rivals Christian County (15-4), travelling across town next Friday. The Lady Colonels handed Hopkinsville its first district loss on Thursday, winning 57-44 in Tiger Gym. Christian County stands at 3-0 in district play, while Hoptown is 3-1.
