Hopkinsville’s Don Victor returned to the lineup Friday night at Webster County after two games out through injury, with the Tigers coming up just short 68-64 against the Trojans despite Victor’s 25 points. The Tigers’ second loss of the season to Webster is their sixth-straight setback, leaving them at 7-12 overall with a visit from South Warren scheduled for Saturday.
Ayden Winn and Destin Allen combined for 9 points and the Trojans led 15-8, before the Tigers closed the first quarter on a 10-0 run. A corner 3 from Don Victor followed by another from Daisjuan Mercer pulled the Tigers to within a point, with a Javon Smith-Rudd steal and layup with :20 left giving the Tigers a 16-15 edge after one.
After three ties in the second quarter, Victor drilled the last of his four first-half 3-pointers to give the Tigers a 32-29 lead, but the game was tied again with 1:41 left in the half after a Tyler Camplin 3-point play. Smith-Rudd connected on a 3 inside of the last minute to put Hoptown ahead, but Webster closed with the last 4 and a putback at the buzzer by Allen gave the Trojans a 1-point lead at the break.
The Tigers led by as many as 5 in the third, but trailed 50-48 when Josh Deeds collected a loose ball on his backside and found Victor for a 3-pointer to put Hoptown back in front. Deeds was fouled on a drive at the buzzer and hit 1 of 2 free throws for a 3-point Tiger lead going to the fourth.
The game became more frantic in the final quarter, leading to some costly Tiger turnovers. Hoptown held a 5-point lead early, but with 3:07 to play Camplin scored down low for a 64-63 Webster advantage. Victor followed with 1 of 2 free throws, but those would be the Tigers’ last points. Allen scored on a drive and Camplin added 2 free throws for Webster, with a turnover on the next possession ending it for the Tigers.
Hopkinsville 16 21 18 9 — 64
Webster 15 23 14 16 — 68
Hopkinsville (7-12) — Victor 25, Smith-Rudd 10, Mercer 10
Webster (15-2) — Camplin 19, Winn 15, Allen 14, McNaughton 10
