The Christian County boys’ basketball team started quickly, but were pushed to the limit by a resilient Henderson County, ultimately winning 92-84 in double overtime. The win is the Colonels’ fourth straight and fifth out of their last six, running their record to 14-6. Henderson suffers its first loss to 2nd Region competition, dropping to 10-10 on the year.
Sophomore guard Damikeon Mathis and senior forward Detorrion Ware both knocked down three pointers in the first forty-five seconds of the game, giving the Colonels a 6-3 lead. Over the next four minutes the Colonels outscored Henderson 18-7, capped off by a Ware dunk off a lob from Mathis. The two points pushed Ware over the 2000 point threshold for his career, and the game was stopped as he was joined on the court and congratulated by his teammates. A Ware follow-dunk and a Mathis layup forced a Henderson timout at the 1:16 mark, with the Colonels leading 22-11. Henderson hit two free throws with just under :30 left in the quarter, and Christian County led 22-15 after eight minutes.
Ware began the second quarter with a steal and dunk, followed by another steal and layup a minute later, putting the Colonels up 28-17. With 1:56 until the halftime break, Henderson connected on a three pointer, cutting the Christian County lead to 32-27. Henderson trimmed the lead to one possession at 34-31 with less than a minute on the clock, but the Colonels closed the half on a 7-0 run to lead 41-31 at the break.
Ware led the Colonels with 19 first-half points, followed by senior forward Kolbe Langhi with 6. Senior forward Dada Simpson scored 10 to lead Henderson County.
Like the second quarter, Ware began the third with a steal and score, equaling the Colonels’ largest lead at 12. Over the next three minutes, Henderson knocked down four three pointers to cut the lead to 8 at 52-44. Another Henderson three, the fourth of the quarter by senior guard Jadal Fletcher, whittled the Colonel lead to 55-54 heading into the fourth quarter.
Henderson tied the game thirty seconds into the quarter with one of two free throws, and the teams battled back and forth over the next four minutes. With 3:24 to play in regulation senior guard Cory Trice fouled out, and Henderson converted on two free throws to take its first lead at 66-65. Ware stepped to the line with :58 to go and hit two free throws to give the Colonels a 71-69 lead, but Henderson responded with two of its own and the game was tied at 71. Christian County had one last chance to win it in regulation, but Ware’s off-balance three pointer missed the mark.
Junior forward Fred Tandy rebounded his own miss and scored to give the Colonels the lead at 75-73 with 2:54 to play in overtime, but Fletcher responded with another three and Henderson led by 1. With a minute left, Langhi pulled down a rebound and scored to give Christian County a 79-77 lead, but Henderson tied the game at 79. Junior forward Eric Brody collected a rebound with the chance at a game-winning basket, but he was called for a walk and Henderson received the ball with :0.9 on the clock. They couldn’t get a shot off before the buzzer, and the game went to a second overtime.
Langhi put back his own miss to give the Colonels the lead in double overtime. Ware scored 4 straight on a putback and a steal and dunk, and Christian County led 89-82 with :55 left. Henderson scored its last points with :25 to play, and Ware sealed it with two free throws for the final 92-84 score.
Ware scored 45, including 7 in the fourth quarter and 10 in the second overtime. Trice and Langhi both finished with 10, while Mathis and Brody added 9 each, and Tandy had 5. For Henderson, Simpson led the way with 22, followed by Fletcher with 19, all in the second half and overtime. Senior guard Cartel Gilbert scored 11, all in the second half.
The Colonels return to the court on Monday, traveling to post to face the Fort Campbell Falcons (3-16).