The Christian County Colonels appeared to have the Madisonville-North Hopkins Maroons just where they wanted them. Trailing by only six points at the half, the Colonel defense was containing Maroon big men Kenny White and Ksuan Casey, while the offense was getting some shots to fall.
However, the Maroons got big nights from Deljuan Johnson and Zach Tow, and used an 11-5 run to close out the 3rd quarter, breaking open a tight game, and carrying the Maroons to a 77-54 2nd Region win at Maroon Gym. The final score was not indicative of just how tightly contested the game was for most of the night.
Christian County came out firing and scored the first five points of the game. Madisonville responded with a 10-0 run to take a 10-5 lead. Once they took the lead, the Maroons would not give it up for the rest of the night. Leading 10-9, Madisonville finished the first quarter with a flurry, outscoring the Colonels 15-4 to take a 25-13 lead.
Deljuan Johnson had a huge opening quarter for Madisonville, finishing the first eight minutes with 12 points.
The Colonels used solid defense and a patient offense to start chipping away at the Maroon lead in the 2nd quarter. Mikeon Mathis and Qua Chambers combined for 12 points in the quarter as the Colonels battled back. By the time the two teams went to the break, Christian County trailed by only six points, and appeared to have some momentum.
In the third, Christian County would close the margin to four points on four occasions, the last coming at 41-37, as Mathis continued his hot shooting from the outside. Just as the Colonels appeared to be in position to make their move, the Maroons got big plays from Keshawn Stone and Marquise Parker and pushed the lead back out to 52-42 at the end of the quarter.
The lead was at 59-48 when Madisonville delivered the knockout blow, in the form of an 11-1 run to extend the lead to 70-49. The Maroons would then cruise on out for the 23 point victory. Johnson and Kenny White did a big part of the damage during the game sealing run.
Mikeon Mathis had a super night for the Colonels, finishing with 18 points, including four made 3-pointers. Qua Chambers finished the game with 14. Stephen Bussell just missed double figures with 9 points on the night.
Deljuan Johnson was big for the Maroons, finishing the night with 22 points, including connecting on five 3-point shots. Zach Tow finished with 14, with 12 of those coming on four made 3-pointers. Kenny White ended up with 13 points, and Ksuan Casey ended up with nine points.
Christian County drops to 1-3 on the season, while Madisonville improves to 4-0.
SCORE BY QUARTER
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q
MNHHS (4-0) 25 8 19 25 – 77
CCHS (1-3) 13 14 15 12 – 54
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
MNHHS: Deljuan Johnson 22, Zach Tow 14, Kenny White 13, Ksuan Casey 9, KeShawn Stone 7, Marquise Parker 6, Jackson Hill 2, Ashton Gaines 2, Jordan Vaughn 2
CCHS: Mikeon Mathis 18, Qua Chambers 14, Stephen Bussell 9, Olajuwon White 4, Kobe Dillard 3, Darrin Bussell 2, Jalil Farrow 2, Trez Vaughn 2
