The Hopkinsville boys’ basketball team got a good look at a future ACC player when four-star forward JJ Traynor and the Bardstown Tigers paid a visit to Tiger Gym on Saturday. Traynor didn’t disappoint, scoring 25 points to lead his team to a 79-67 victory. Arthur McKnight countered with a big game for Hoptown, but it wasn’t enough to extend the Tigers’ three-game win streak.
Hoptown got off to a bright start and took its first lead on an and-1 by McKnight with 4:17 left in the first quarter. The lead was 4 after Reece Jesse scored down low, but Bardstown closed on an 11-2 run, capped by a Javaugh Smith buzzer-beating 3, to lead 21-16 after one.
After a Don Victor 3-pointer, McKnight converted an and-1 and provided an assist to KC Cabiness to pull Hoptown to within 1 at 25-24. Leading by 3 after two free throws by Hopkinsville’s Jamarcus Burks, Bardstown once again beat the horn with a 3 for a 39-33 halftime edge.
Bardstown’s Smith drained a 3 early in the second half for the first double-digit lead of the game, and the margin hovered in that area until Hoptown closed the third quarter with a 7-2 run. This time it was the Tigers that got the last shot, with McKnight connecting on a one-armed, halfcourt heave for a 62-55 score.
As you might expect from the University of Louisville commit, Traynor stepped up to make sure there would be no Hopkinsville comeback with 10 fourth-quarter points. The Tigers twice trimmed the lead to 7, but couldn’t get any closer.
Bardstown 21 18 23 17 — 79
Hopkinsville 16 17 22 12 — 67
Bardstown (7-6) — Traynor 25, Smith 17, Montgomery 16
Hopkinsville (7-7) — McKnight 21, Victor 16, Jesse 10, Burks 10
