Madisonville-North Hopkins will head into the 2nd Region tournament on a roll after turning back Caldwell County 72-60 in the 7th District championship game Thursday night at Hopkins County Central High School in Mortons Gap.
The Maroons carry a 26-5 record and a 19-game winning streak into the regional tourney, which Madisonville will host next week.
Kenny White scored 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds while J.D. Gilbert had 24 points. Ksuan Casey finished with eight points and 13 boards and Cade Cunningham added eight points for the Maroons, who used an early run to take control on the way to their 10th straight district championship.
Down 4-2 early, Madisonville forced Caldwell into six early turnovers — and took advantage. The result was a 16-2 run by the Maroons that put them up 18-6.
Madisonville led by as much as 17 points in the second period before Caldwell (18-10) clawed back to within 37-27 at halftime.
The Tigers then threatened to make a game of it, scoring six points in a row out of the break. A layup by Derrin Boyd got Caldwell as close as 37-33.
But Madisonville responded with another run. This time a 12-3 burst extended the Maroon margin to 49-36 following a Casey stickback with 3:26 left in the stanza.
Caldwell was within 50-42 through three quarters, but could never put together a run to get any closer than eight points.
A Boyd bucket made it a 66-58 game with 1:52 to play, but Madisonville hit enough free throws down the stretch to push the final margin to 12 points.
The Maroons haven’t lost in 2019. Their last setback was a 71-57 decision to Owensboro on Dec. 27, 2018.
Caldwell got 25 points and seven rebounds from Boyd and 18 points from Cayden Fraliex in the loss. Cole Smiley had seven boards to go with four points.
The Tigers will advance to regional play next week as well and could be a darkhorse with the right draw.
Pairings for the 2nd Region tournament will be decided Saturday morning in Madisonville.