University Heights has waited six seasons since its last boys’ basketball district championship, finally breaking through with an 83-76 win over Christian County on Thursday night. With the win, the Blazers improve to 20-7, getting their first win of the season over the Colonels after two regular-season losses. Christian County has a ten-game win streak snapped, slipping to 20-7 on the year.
Senior forward Detorrion Ware, the 2nd Region player of the year, broke away for a dunk to put the Colonels up 6-3 just over a minute into the game. With 4:47 left in the opening quarter, junior guard Kyky Tandy scored his first points to tie the game at 9, and followed it up a minute later with a steal and score to give the Blazers a 13-11 lead. The teams traded baskets over the next two minutes, until Ware followed a bucket by senior guard Cory Trice with a three-point play, opening up a 26-20 lead with 1:03 to play in the period. Blazers’ freshman guard KJ Crump knocked down a pull-up jumper, but Ware scored the last of his 19 first-quarter points with :20 left to give the Colonels a 28-22 advantage going into the second quarter.
The Blazers opened the second quarter with 6 straight points, with Tandy collecting 4 in a row to tie the game at 28. Tandy hit a three pointer on either side of one of two free throws by Colonels’ sophomore guard Damikeon Mathis, building a 34-29 lead with 5:25 left in the half. Junior forward TaQuan Hollowell scored on a putback, followed by two free throws to stretch the Blazer lead to 38-29, before the Colonels ran off 9 straight to tie the game at 38 with :38 on the clock. With only :8 until the break, Trice drove and scored in the paint, and the Colonels led 40-38.
Ware was limited to only 3 second-quarter points, but his 22 still lead all scorers for the Colonels. Trice followed with 7, and junior forward Fred Tandy had 5. Kyky Tandy’s 14 paced UHA, with TaQuan Hollowell also getting to double figures with 11.
Senior forward Kolbe Langhi scored 4 straight to open the second half, before a Ware block on Tandy led to a layup by the Colonels Fred Tandy for a 46-38 lead, forcing a Blazer timeout. A Ware three-point play off an assist from Trice gave the Colonels the largest lead of the game so far at 49-40 three minutes into the third quarter. Tandy drilled a three for the Blazers, but the Colonels’ Fred Tandy scored on a layup, followed by a rebound and score to open up the first double-digit lead of the game at 53-43. Kyky Tandy got to the line three times over the next two and a half minutes, knocking down 4 of 5 to slice the Colonel lead in half. Ware scored on an acrobatic layup to restore the double-digit Colonel lead with :22 left in the third quarter, before Hollowell hit one of two free throws to pull the Blazers to within 9 with eight minutes to play.
With the Blazers seemingly in danger of letting the game get away, Tandy took over, scoring 8 points in the first minute of the final quarter, and forcing the Colonels to call a timeout clinging to a 60-59 lead. With 6:45 to play, Tandy was fouled on a three-point attempt and hit all three free throws to give the Blazers their first lead since midway through the second quarter at 62-61. However, the Colonels scored the next 7, capped off by a three-point play by senior forward JaQuon Long to lead by 6 at 68-62.
With the Blazers on the ropes, freshman KJ Crump stepped up, hitting two free throws and completing a three-point play off an assist from junior guard Drew McGowan to make the score 68-67. After a Trice drive and score, the Blazers’ Tandy provided a pivotal play, draining a three and drawing the fourth foul on Ware. Tandy added the free throw to hand UHA a 71-70 lead with 3:28 on the clock, and the Blazers wouldn’t trail again. With the game tied at 71, Mathis stepped to the line for the Colonels, but missed the front end of a one and one. McGowan made Christian County pay, hitting a floater for a two-point lead. On the ensuing Colonel possession, Tandy came up with a steal and dunk, prompting a Colonel timeout.
As the teams went to their benches, someone in the County huddle drew a technical foul, giving the Blazers two free throws. With Tandy toeing the line, the crowd was stunned when both attempts rolled off, but the Blazers rebounded and Tandy found Lovan for a score to push the lead to 77-71 with 1:40 left. Trice hit one of two free throws, before Ware scored off a steal and drew the third foul on Tandy. Ware was unable to convert the free throw, and the Blazers called a timeout with a 77-74 lead. Crump calmly hit 4 free throws on either side of a Colonel turnover, icing the game at 81-74. Tandy and Ware traded layups in the last seconds, but the game was settled, and UHA erupted in celebration of the 83-76 victory.
Tandy poured in 43 for the Blazers, including 19 in the fourth quarter, and 10-13 free throws in the second half. Lovan added 13, Hollowell had 12, and Crump scored 11, including a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line in the final period. McGowan’s 4 wrapped up the UHA scoring.
Ware finished with 33, although the Blazers were able to hold him to 11 in the second half. Trice and Fred Tandy both scored 14, Langhi had 7, and Long chipped in 5. Junior forward Eric Brody had a basket, and Mathis added a point.
The Blazers and Colonels will find out who they’ll be playing in next week’s 2nd Region tournament at the draw on Saturday morning at Madisonville-North Hopkins. The Colonels lost 74-57 to Hopkinsville in last season’s regional championship, while the Blazers last won a game in the tournament in 2013/14, and were last in the championship game in 2007/08, when they beat Christian County 90-86 for the regional title.