After spotting Webster County the first 14 points of the game on Monday night, the Madisonville-North Hopkins Maroons clawed their way back and held off the Trojans 49-44 to advance to a matchup with Hopkinsville in the 2nd Region semifinals.
The Maroons win their 10th-straight game and take a step toward defending their 2019-20 region championship, while the Trojans’ season comes to an end with a 15-11 mark.
It was all Trojans early on and they led 11-0 after Ryan Roland connected on a 3-pointer midway through the first quarter. Destin Allen converted a 3-point play to stretch the lead to 14 before Kale Gaither collected the Maroons’ only points of the frame on a pull-up jumper.
Madisonville answered with a 10-0 spurt to start the second, capped by an and-1 for Zach Tow. Aaron Harmon scored 11 first-half points for Webster, including a pair of 3-pointers on either side of a Gaither layup to put the Trojans in front 24-16. The Maroons scored the final 6 points of the half, with Danye Frazier drilling a 3-pointer and Tow beating the buzzer with a straight-away 3 for a 24-22 score at the break.
Allen’s 4 points were all the offense the Trojans could muster in the third, with the Maroons surging in front for good on an Ashton Gaines 3-point play with three minutes left in the quarter. Gaines hit one of two free throws for the final points of the frame and Madisonville led 33-28 with a quarter to play.
Harmon connected on his fourth 3-pointer of the game to start the fourth and pull the Trojans to within 2, but Madisonville was in front 41-33 after Gaines scored in the paint and Cline split a pair of free throws. Webster answered with a 7-1 run and forced a Maroon timeout after Bradin Nelson scored for a 43-40 score.
Gaither hit two free throws to push the margin to 5 with :30 to play before Harmon missed a pair at the other end. Allen scored the final points of his stellar career to get the Trojans back within 3, but Gaither calmly knocked down two more from the line to seal the win.
Tow’s 16 led the Maroons, joined in double figures by Gaither and Gaines with 12 each.
Allen’s 17 led all scorers, with Harmon also reaching double figures for the Trojans with 14.
Webster County 14 10 4 16 — 44
Madisonville 2 20 11 16 — 49
Webster County (15-11) — Allen 17, Harmon 14, McNaughton 5, Raley 3, Roland 3, Nelson 2
Madisonville (15-4) — Tow 16, Gaines 12, Gaither 12, Frazier 5, Cline 4
