As the Boys 8th District tournament gets underway Tuesday, the question that looms is whether or not the UHA Blazers can parlay their All A Classic state championship into another run to Rupp Arena. The secondary question is whether or not the Hopkinsville Tigers can make it three in a row this season over the Christian County Colonels.
Play begins Tuesday night at Christian County High School with UHA and Fort Campbell at 6:00pm, followed by Hopkinsville and Christian County around 7:30pm.
UHA comes into the tournament as the favorite, with a record of 26-4 overall, and 6-0 in district play. However, the Blazers have been pushed to their limits twice by Hopkinsville, and their defense gave up 91 points, and nearly gave up a big lead, in a win over Caldwell County to close out the regular season. UHA is lead by Xavier signee KyKy Tandy, who is averaging 26.8 points per game. Both Drew McGowan and Taquan Hollowell also enter the postseason averaging in double figures. KJ Crump has returned to the lineup after suffering a late season ankle injury. The play of Will Bryan and DJ Quarles has been huge for the Blazers over the last half of the season.
Coming out of the Christmas break, the Fort Campbell Falcons appeared to be making progress and heading in the right direction. But, the Falcons have hit the skids over the past several weeks, losing 14 in a row and finishing the regular season at 5-20 overall and 0-6 in district play. Doryan Hall and Cameron Johnson have seen some big moments for the Falcons, but will need to play bigger than ever for the Falcons to hang around the Blazers for very long.
Hopkinsville is the team that many have considered the dark horse threat to UHA and Madisonville in the 2nd Region all season long. The Tigers finished the season at 16-12 overall and 4-2 in 8th District play. Seven of their losses have been by six points or less, including both of their district losses to UHA. After trailing by 22 points to McCracken County, the Tigers came all the way back to get a late lead, only to lose on a long buzzer beater. Hopkinsville also lost to unbeated John Hardin by a single point in the Owensboro Invitational. This is a team that should concern anyone they play in the postseason.
James Nicholas leads Hopkinsville at 14.1 points per game. Jacarius Burks is also averaging in double figures at 12.5 points per game. A wildcard in the postseason for the Tigers could be 8th grader Dejaun Mercer, who scored 10 points in his first varsity action of the season against McCracken County.
The biggest problem for Hopkinsville is that they have to face a Kerry Stovall coached Christian County team in the opening round of the 8th District tournament. The Colonels come in at 14-15 overall and 2-4 in the district. But don’t let the record deceive you. Christian County played a brutally tough schedule, so this team has been tournament tested. The last time they met Hopkinsville, the Colonels lost by only two on the Tigers’ home court. They beat an Owensboro team that handled Hopkinsville, and took Madisonville to overtime earlier in the season.
The Colonels are led by Eric Brody, Fred Tandy, and Stephon Bussell, who all come in averaging in double figures. Christian County has also gotten big minutes late in the season from Olajuwon White and Damikeon Mathis.
UHA won the title in 2018. Hopkinsville won in 2017. Christian County last won the district title in 2016. The last team to repeat was Hopkinsville, which won four in a row, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.