It was a game that would be worthy of a tournament final. The Madisonville-North Hopkins Maroons lost for the first time of the season Saturday evening, falling in overtime to Collins in the Chad Gardner Law King of the Bluegrass.
K’suan Casey & Kenny White got things rolling for the Maroons as Madisonville built an early 14-4 lead. The Maroon lead would be 18-8 at the end of the 1st quarter. With big plays from K’suan Casey and Marquise Parker, the Madisonville lead would be up to 12 at 35-23 when the teams left the floor at halftime.
Behind the play of Dayvion McKnight, Collins opened the second half on a 17-3 run to take the lead for the first time in the game at 40-38. The lead would grow to as many as five points, before the Maroons fought their way back to the front with an 11-4 run. From there on, the battle was on and the game headed for an epic finish.
Down the stretch in the fourth quarter, the teams traded baskets as the game kept fans on the edge of their seats. With Madisonville leading 66-63, Collins’ Marcellus Vail nailed a three from the corner with 1.1 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime tied at 66-66.
In overtime, the game was tied at 68-68 and 70-70. Collins made a free throw with 1:16 to go to take a 71-70 lead. Over the rest of the overtime, Collins would miss five free throw attempts, but the Maroons would fail to take advantage of the opportunities, as they missed their final three field goal attempts of the game.
White and Casey had big games for the Maroons. White finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Casey added 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Dayvion McKnight led the way for the Titans with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists. Marcellus Vail added 15 points for Collins.
