The Hopkinsville High School boys’ basketball team held on for a 70-62 win over Graves County in Tiger Gym on Tuesday night. The win marks only the second time this season that the Tigers’ four returning starters from last year took the court together, and the home debut for the group. The Tigers have now won four of their last five to improve to 8-10 on the year, while the Eagles see a four-game winning streak snapped and slip to 15-6.
Graves County took an early lead before Stephen “Shorty” Cager scored on a layup off an assist from junior shooting guard James Nicholas to tie the score at 8 with 3:05 to play in the opening frame. A short time later, Cager stepped to the line and hit 1 of 2 to give the Tigers the lead at 10-9, however the Eagles would close the quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 15-10 lead after the first eight minutes.
Cager knocked down a deep three-pointer to pull the Tigers to to within 2 at 17-15, but the Eagles restored the five-point lead at 20-15 after a three-point play. Cager responded with 5 points on a steal and layup followed by a three-pointer to tie the game at 20, and senior point guard Jalen Johnson then hit two free throws to give the Tigers the lead at 22-20 with 3:56 to play in the half. A lay-in by freshman point guard Alijah Watts gave the Tigers their largest lead so far at 26-22. With 2:35 left in the quarter, Cager flew in to score on a follow and the Tigers immediately forced an Eagle turnover. Cager would make them pay, nailing another three-pointer for a 31-24 Tiger lead. With less than thirty seconds left, sophomore shooting guard Don Victor scored on a lay-in off a lob from Cager to take a 35-28 lead into the halftime break.
Cager led the Tiger scorers with 21, including 15 in the second quarter, followed by Johnson with 9. For the Eagles, senior forward Trevor Grant scored 13, 8 of which came in the first quarter, and junior guard Tae Shannon had 6.
Senior shooting guard Bryce Smith drained a three with just over a minute gone in the second half to give the Tigers their first double-digit lead at 40-30, and the lead would hover between 8 and 10 for most of the remainder of the quarter. With 2:12 left in the period, the Graves County bench was hit with a technical after complaining about a foul call, and Cager would hit both free throws for a 48-38 score. Smith added an acrobatic layup with just over a minute left, and the Tigers carried a 50-40 lead into the fourth quarter.
Graves County, early-season winners over UHA and one of the favorites in the 1st Region, weren’t about to go quietly, and they hit back-to-back threes out of the break to trim the lead to 50-46. Johnson responded with a three to push the lead back to 7, but with five minutes to play the Eagles splashed another three to pull to 55-52. A Cager layup in traffic stretched the lead to 64-56 and the Tigers appeared to have things under control, but the Eagles still weren’t quite done. With just under a minute left, Graves County went to the free throw line with a chance to get within 4, but only managed to hit 1 of 2 and wouldn’t get any closer the rest of the way. Junior small forward Tefrell Tolliver put an exclamation point on the win with a dunk off an assist from Watts with twenty seconds to go, and the Tigers notched the 70-62 win.
Cager and Johnson combined for 50 points for the Tigers, with 29 and 21, respectively. Cager also recorded 5 rebounds and 4 steals, while Johnson had 4 and 2. Nicholas scored 9, along with 6 rebounds, and Smith finished with 5 points and 2 boards. Watts, Tolliver, and Victor each had 2 points, with Tolliver also putting up 5 rebounds and a steal. Watts pulled down 2 rebounds, Victor had 3, and junior center Jamarion Sharp also had 3. Junior forward Jacarius Burks was unavailable for the Tigers. Grant led the Eagles in scoring with 21, followed by junior guard Jordyn Naranjo’s 18, including 10 in the third quarter and 11 of 14 from the free throw line in the second half.
Next up for the resurgent Tigers is a trip across town on Saturday to face 8th District rivals Christian County. Both teams will be desperate for a win to keep pace with the UHA Blazers, who are 3-0 in district play. Hopkinsville stands at 2-1 and the Colonels are 1-0, with both teams collecting their wins against Fort Campbell.