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SSPORTSPORTSSection B

Saturday, March 3, 2012

email: toddgriffin@timesleader.netTHE TIMES LEADER — Princeton, Ky.

Hopkinsville did little to damage its regional fa-vorite credentials Thurs-day night, ending Caldwell County’s season 79-48 in opening round action at the 2nd Region tournament in Madisonville.

A 17-0 run during the second quarter put Hop-town (30-2) in control.

Caldwell (4-25), a heavy underdog, tried to mount a challenge early in the con-test.

The Tigers were within 14-9 late in the fi rst quarter following a Luke McCarty 3-pointer.

It was 16-9 after one pe-riod.

Caldwell was still within seven, 18-11, after a put-back by Dee Cain with 7:08 left in the fi rst half.

But the Tigers had dif-fi culty against Hopkins-ville’s full-court pressure. At times it was all Caldwell could do to get the ball in-bounds against the quicker and deeper Hoptown team.

Caldwell went over 6½ minutes without scoring, opening the door for Hop-kinsville’s big run.

A layup by Tavaris Davis gave Hoptown a 35-11 ad-vantage with 1:51 left in the fi rst half.

By the break, Hopkins-ville led 38-13 and had forced Caldwell into 16 turnovers.

The second half was more competitive, with Hoptown substituting liber-ally throughout the fi nal 16 minutes.

Caldwell was outscored 41-35 in the second half.

Elijah Sindelar was the only Caldwell player to score in double fi gures, netting 11 points. He also grabbed eight rebounds.Luke McCarty and Baxter Boyd had nine points each.

Eli Pepper had a team-high 10 rebounds to go with six points.

Jordan Majors had 20 points and nine rebounds to lead Hopkinsville. Tra Edwards had 13 points and fi ve assists while T.J. Elam had 13 points.

Hopkinsville leads the all-time series 63-26.

Hoptown will play Hen-derson County in Mon-day’s late semifi nal con-test. Henderson eliminated

Please turn to TigersPage B-5

TL staff report

The Murray State Racers will play in the championship game of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament today (Saturday) in Nashville.

The Racers (29-1) wil l take on Tennessee State at 1 p.m. at Municipal

Auditorium in a game to be televised by ESPN2.

Murray State earned its spot in the final by thumping Tennessee Tech 78-58 Friday night in the semifinals (story on page B-5).

Tennessee State, which is the only team

to beat MSU this season, bounced Morehead State 59-52 Friday night.

Today’s winner gets the OVC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. However, the Racers are headed to the Big Dance win or lose.

RACERS, TENNESSEE STATE TO PLAY FOR OVC CROWN

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Friday’s violent outbreak of storms across the Bluegrass State forced every regional tournament game across the state to be post-poned.

In the 2nd Region, that means the girls semifi nals will be played tonight (Saturday) at Christian County High School in Hopkins-ville.

Meanwhile, offi cials in Madison-ville may have to decide this week-end if Madisonville-North Hopkins High School will be fi t to host the re-maining games of the boys regional tournament.

Semifi nals are set for Monday night with the championship game on Tuesday. However, that school sustained damage to its roof from a storm that moved through Hopkins

County.Hopkins County Emergency

Management Director Frank Wright told The Associated Press that the gymnasium at Madisonville-North Hopkins High School was empty when the storm blew through Fri-day afternoon. Wright said students were dismissed from class at 11:30 a.m. after school offi cials consulted with the National Weather Service.

However, considerable damage was done to the school. If Madison-ville cannot host the games, the only suitable backup gym would appear to be Hopkinsville High School.

The boys regional tourney ro-tates annual between Madisonville and Hopkinsville.

Most of the state is scheduled to resume regional tournament play today, although some of the hard-est hit areas could see even further

delays.Tonight’s girls 2nd Region semi-

fi nals pit Livingston Central (24-5) against Webster County (18-12) at 6 p.m., followed by Hopkinsville (29-4) and Henderson County (25-3).

The girls regional championship game is now set for 3 p.m. Sunday at Christian County.

The boys regional semifi nals on Monday will feature Madisonville-North Hopkins (22-8) and Christian County (9-21) at 6 p.m., followed by Henderson County (18-14) and Hopkinsville (30-2).

The boys regional fi nal is slated for 7 p.m. Tuesday.

The girls state tournament is scheduled to begin Wednesday at Diddle Arena in Bowling Green.

The boys Sweet 16 will start the following Wednesday at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

TL staff report

REGIONAL REJECTION

at Christian County

MondayLivingston Cent. 66, Univ. Heights 58Webster Co. 62, Caldwell Co. 41

TuesdayHopkinsville 30, Madisonville 14Henderson Co. 61, Lyon Co. 31

Saturday—SemifinalsLivingston Cent. vs. Webster Co., 6Hopkinsville vs. Henderson Co., 7:45

Sunday—ChampionshipSemifinal winners, 3

2ND REGION TOURNAMENTS

GIRLSat Madisonville-North Hopkins

WednesdayMadisonville 52, Lyon Co. 34Christian Co. 74, Webster Co. 62

ThursdayHenderson Co. 69, Livingston Cent. 42Hopkinsville 79, Caldwell Co. 48

Monday, March 5—SemifinalsMadisonville vs. Christian Co., 6Henderson Co. vs Hopkinsville, 7:45

Tuesday, March 6—ChampionshipSemifinal winners, 7

BOYS

Madisonville-North Hop-kins wore down a game Lyon County squad Wednesday, pulling away late for a 52-34 victory in the opening round of the 2nd Region tournament in Madisonville.

The Lyons (15-17) were down just 30-24 at halftime and were as close as 32-29 with 6 minutes left in the third quarter.

However, Madisonville (22-8) countered with six straight points to go up 38-29 and took a 40-33 advantage to the fourth period.

Lyon then ran out of gas in the fi nal stanza. The Lyons missed all 10 of their fi eld goal attempts in the fourth quarter and were outscored 12-1 in the frame as the Maroons ad-vanced to the semifi nals.

“That’s a talented basket-ball team,” Lyon head coach Jeff Embrey said of the Ma-roons. “What hurts us against them is our depth. They can run 12 guys at us, and we have seven or eight that we’re try-ing to shuffl e in and out.

“In the fourth, our legs wore out and our shots be-came short. I’m proud of our kids.”

Warron Sutton tallied a game-high 21 points to lead Lyon. Jericho Wilkerson add-ed 10.

Daylyn Jones led Madison-ville with 14 points. Tray Carr added 11.

The Maroons will next face Christian County in the re-gional semifi nals Monday at 6 p.m. in Madisonville.

Christian, the defending state champion, defeated Webster County 74-62 in Wednesday’s fi rst opening round game.

Lyon County 11 13 9 1 34Madisonville 18 12 10 12 52

Lyon County (15-17): Warron Sutton 21, Jericho Wilkerson 10, Andrew Brazell 2, Bobby Staples 1, Aaron Perdue 0, Tyler Martin 0, Jesse Spencer 0, Brandon White 0, Hunter Thomas 0, Travis Nelson 0, Zach Polston 0.

Madisonville-North Hopkins (22-8): Daylyn Jones 14, Tray Carr 11, Jawan Combs 9, Byron Dulin 6, Cameron Tandy 4, Josiah Powell 4, Michael Soder 2, Logan Waide 2, Iran White 0, Traquille Hopson 0, Terry Springfi eld 0, Ross Thomas 0.

3-pointers: Lyon 3 (Sutton 3), Madison-ville 2 (Carr, Combs).

Free throws: Lyon 15-17, Madisonville 6-11.

Fouls: Lyon 14, Madisonville 16.

TL staff report

Weather alters regional tourney schedule

Madisonville pulls away late to beat Lyon 52-34 in first round

Tigers bow to tourney favorite

Above, Caldwell’s Eli Pepper (right) puts up a jumper against Hopkinsville’s Lawrence Smith (44) during the first half of Thursday’s regional tournament game in Madisonville. Below, Caldwell’s Elijah Sindelar (right) moves with the ball while Hoptown’s Tavaris Davis defends. Hopkinsville, the regional favorite, ended Caldwell’s season 79-48.

TIMES LEADER/Todd Griffin