In a rare home and home meeting over two days, Hopkinsville dropped the first matchup with McCracken County 69-62 on Friday night in Paducah. The two teams will do it all again in twenty-four hours when the Mustangs visit Tiger Gym on Saturday night.
Still smarting from a 24-point loss to Lyon County in their last outing and celebrating Senior Night, the Mustangs enjoyed a strong start behind 11 first-quarter points from Ian Hart. Alijah Watts scored 6 points and his jumper pulled the Tigers to within 7 at 19-12 with 1:36 left in the first.
The Mustangs stretched the lead to double figures early in the second after a Brant Brower layup and Watts picked up his third foul with the Tigers down 13. Hoptown’s Reece Jesse came up with a steal and a dunk to close to 40-35 with :18 left in the half, but Jack McCune scored through contact to give McCracken a 7-point cushion at the break.
Hopkinsville opened the third quarter on a 7-3 run and finally pulled even just over midway through on a Jesse bucket down low. It was tied again at 48-48 after a McKnight 3-pointer, but the Mustangs led 56-52 with a quarter to play.
Back-to-back Jamarcus Burks 3-pointers once again had the Tigers level at 58-58, but McCracken answered with a 7-0 run to take control. McKnight scored on a layup and the Tigers called a timeout down 67-62 with :36 left, but the Mustangs did the job at the free-throw line to seal the win.
McCracken made a living at the line, connecting on 19 of 26 attempts, while the Tigers finished 2/8. The Tigers shot 55% from the field and hit six 3-pointers. The Mustangs shot 48% and hit 6 of their 12 3-point attempts.
Ian Hart poured in 21 points in the first half and finished with 29 to lead all scorers. Ian McCune was next for the Mustangs with 16.
Burks’ 15 led a balanced attack for the Tigers, with Jesse and Watts both finishing with 10. Jesse and Burks each pulled down a team-high 7 rebounds.
Hopkinsville 16 19 17 10 — 62
McCracken 25 17 14 13 — 69
Hopkinsville (3-3) — Burks 15, Jesse 10, Watts 10, McKnight 8, Mercer 8, Cabiness 6, Smith 3, Manning 2
McCracken (15-5) — Hart 29, I. McCune 16, Dumas 8, Brower 5, J. McCune 5, Blackwell 3, Tilford 3
