It’s hard to win a basketball game when you can’t even get shots up to the basket. Madisonville blocked 14 Henderson County shots Wednesday night in route to a surprisingly easy 67-47 win over the Colonels in the Boys 2nd Region quarterfinals at Hopkinsville High School.
The Maroon defense was dominant from the beginning of the game. Madisonville did not give up a point under 1:30 to go in the opening quarter, and by that point, the Maroons led 10-2. Madisonville would go on to score the final five points of the quarter, including a tip in at the horn by Ksuan Casey, to take a 15-2 lead after the first eight minutes. Casey was a beast on the inside, blocking four shots and pulling down seven rebounds.
It got no better for Henderson County as the 2nd quarter got underway. The Maroons opened the quarter with a 7-3 spurt to extend the lead to 22-5. It began to look like Henderson’s appearance in the regional tournament would be over before it ever got started. To the Colonels credit however, they continued to plug away and try to get better looks at the basket. Henderson County outscored the Maroons 11-8 the rest of the way to trim the margin to 30-16 heading off to the break.
Ksuan Casey had a monstrous first half for the Maroons with 12 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks. Kenny White added nine points and five rebounds of his own.
One problem Madisonville had in the opening half was ball security. The Maroons finished the half with 8 turnovers, compared to 5 for Henderson County. Madisonville blocked six Henderson County shots in the opening half.
The Maroons came out of the locker room at the beginning of the second half and immediately got back to work. Four quick points, and Henderson County took a timeout just 58 seconds into the second half, trailing 34-16. The spurt would grow to 12-1 as Madisonville pushed the lead out to 42-17. Madisonville capped off the third quarter with a Ksuan Casey jam, as the lead grew to 51-25 going into the final quarter.
Henderson County would chip into the lead but not enough to make any serious difference over the final eight minutes. Madisonville would ride it on out to the final 20 point margin.
Ksuan Casey was beyond a force for Madisonville in the game. The big man finished with 27 points, 18 rebounds, and four blocked shots. Kenny White had a stellar game as well, ending up with 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 blocked shots. Deljuan Johnson added 17 for the Maroons.
Xavier Bugg was the only Colonel to reach double figures with 12 points. Lance Skinner, Myekel Sanners, and Luke Fulkerson each had 8 points for Henderson County.
In addition to the blocked shots, Madisonville outrebounded Henderson County 38-22 on the night.
Madisonville improves to 29-3 with the win, and moves on to Monday night’s first semifinal, where they will take on Christian County at 6:00pm at Hopkinsville High School.
Henderson County finishes their season at 19-13, and as runners-up in the 6th District.
TEAM SCORING
MNHS (13-18) 15 15 21 16 – 67
HCHS (16-17) 2 14 9 22 – 47
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
MNHS: White 16, Casey 27, Johnson 17, Parker 5, Stone 2
HCHS: Curry 4, Bugg 12, Skinner 8, Dixon 4, Reed 2, Fulkerson 8, Sanners 8, McGuire 1
