With Eighth District games coming up in the next few weeks, Hopkinsville Coach Larry Miller is still trying to find a solid rotation of players he can count on in crunch time.
The Tigers never led after the first quarter and fell to Madisonville 60-52 Thursday at Tiger Gym.
Madisonville used an 8-0 first quarter run to take a 12-8 they would never relinquish.
The Maroons built their lead to nine points late in the second quarter before Jacarius Burks rebounded a missed shot before the buzzer and scored the put back to cut the Tiger deficit to 31-24 at intermission.
Hoptown got to within 33-30 midway through the third quarter but never got any closer.
Madisonville big man K’Suan Casey, who earlier in the day picked up a college offer from Evansville, scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half. He finished 10-of-15 from the field and added eight rebounds.
J.D. Gilbert added 14 points, and Kenny White added 13 points and nine rebounds for Madisonville (10-5).
Jacarius Burks led Hopkinsville with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Jamarion Sharp scored nine points, grabbed four rebounds, and blocked six shots.
After winning 12 straight games against Madisonville, the Tigers have lost two straight to the Maroons for the first time in nine years.
Hopkinsville (8-7) looks to snap a four-game losing streak Saturday when they travel to Lincoln County to play in the Patriot Classic.