UHA’s Kyky Tandy went off for 44 points on Saturday evening against Mayfield, but the Cardinals placed four players in double figures and used a balanced attack to pull out an 87-78 victory at the Toyota of Hopkinsville Classic at Christian County High School.
Playing without injured point guard KJ Crump, the Blazers raced out to an 11-6 lead after a 3 by Tandy. However, the Cardinals battled back and tied the game at 19-19 on a layup at the first-quarter buzzer by Carson Guthrie.
Mayfield began to use its size advantage inside, while Tandy attacked the rim relentlessly and drew fouls on the Cardinals. Mayfield led by as many as 5 twice in the second quarter, and led 39-36 at the halftime break after a layup by UHA’s DJ Quarles in the final seconds.
The third quarter was closely contested, with Mayfield taking a 6-point advantage before two free throws by Tandy trimmed it to 4 at 60-56 heading to the final quarter.
Drew McGowan connected from long range for 3 of his 11 fourth-quarter points to pull the Blazers to within a point, but the Cardinals answered with a 13-2 run capped by a bucket from Kade Neely to lead 75-63 with 4:27 to play.
The closest the Blazers would get the rest of the way was 7 after a Tandy 3 with 3:32 left, but Mayfield used a 7-0 run to put the game away.
Tandy’s 44 led all scorers, with McGowan the only other Blazer in double figures with 17. TaQuan Hollowell add 9 points.
Connor Guthrie scored 21, including 16 in the second half, to lead the Cardinals. Neely and Desean Jones each finished with 17, followed by Carson Guthrie with 16.