Ending the year at the Murray Bank Hardwood Tournament at Calloway County, the Hopkinsville girls’ basketball team started the weekend with a 48-43 loss to Dresden, TN on Friday evening. Foul trouble and scoring woes limited the Lady Tigers to 14-first half points, before a second-half rally fell short.
Hopkinsville fell behind 7-0 before Donisha Flowers scored on a drive to the basket, but Flowers was out of the game with her second foul with 3:40 left in the first quarter and the Lady Tigers trailing by 7. Hoptown’s Shaterrea Bellamy and Lakayla Samuel scored the final 4 points to trim the the margin to 3 after one.
The Dresden lead was double-digits early in the second, before a 3-point play by Jakayla Epps and layup by Bellamy got the Lady Tigers within 4 with 4:06 left in the half. However, turnovers and missed layups cost them and Dresden led 24-14 at the halftime break.
Flowers made up for lost time with 9 points in the third quarter, but Hoptown couldn’t get any closer than 7 and once again trailed by double figures after Dresden’s Katie Washburn drilled a 3 at the buzzer for a 36-26 score.
Two free throws by Epps followed by a jumper in the lane from Flowers cut the lead to 3 at 41-38 with 3:13 to play, and another Flowers bucket pulled the Lady Tigers to 43-40, but the Lady Lions did just enough at the free throw line to hold on for the 5-point victory.
Hopkinsville 6 8 12 17–43
Dresden, TN 9 15 12 12–48
Hopkinsville (4-5) Flowers 18, Epps 9, Samuel 7, Bellamy 7
Dresden, TN Washburn 15, Childress 15
