On Tuesday night, the McCracken County Mustangs returned home to Strawberry Hills Pharmacy Arena to host the visiting Mayfield Cardinals. In a 2023 First Region Championship rematch, the Mustangs preserved and pushed ahead to take a 71-63 victory over the Cardinals.
The last matchup between the two programs came on March 5, 2023, at Murray State’s CFSB Center for the regional title. The Mustangs, who have won the last six contests over the Cardinals, claimed the First Region with a 46-32 finish. Mayfield’s previous victory over McCracken County came on March 3, 2019, during the First Region championship, with the Cardinals taking a 56-44 finish.
“Hats off to Mayfield; they’re a really good shooting team, and we knew that coming in, they shoot the ball well, especially (Braydon) Pate and (Owen) Webb,” McCracken County head coach Dustin Roberts said. “We weren’t assignment sound early on and it kind of cost us in that first quarter, giving up 22 points—which I don’t remember the last time we gave up 22 in a quarter, but that was not a good start.”
McCracken County’s Connor Miller led all scorers with a game-high 19 points in the win for the Mustangs. Jackson Klope finished behind Miller with a game-second-best 17 points. For Mayfield, Pate finished with a team-high 16 points.
Although the Mustangs claimed the win, Mayfield outscored McCracken County in the opening quarter, going on a 6-0 run in the final seconds to give the Cardinals an early 22-17 lead on their opponent’s home court. Threes from Webb, Pate, Collin Gibson, and Kye Morton kept the Cardinals ahead as the Mustangs continued to find a rhythm in the first quarter.
Despite being down, McCracken County’s Dylan Jackson, who battled through injury after injury in the contest, sunk two 3-pointers in the opening quarter to help the Mustangs. Freshman Caden Fulcher assisted in scoring with Miller’s 3-pointer and Klope’s six points.
“Our guys are mentally tough to fight through it and handle that pressure when you feel like you’re a little bit better and that other team is playing well. Our guys responded to that, and I thought that was pretty impressive on their part—especially as young as they are,” Roberts said. “We had freshmen out there chasing around seniors for Mayfield. Some of those guys have started for three years, so they’re experienced and good players.”
The second quarter belonged to the Mustangs, outscoring Mayfield 17-9, with Klope leading the charge for McCracken County. However, before halftime, both teams began facing foul trouble with calls on the floor. By the end of the first half, the Mustangs held a three-point lead over the First Region runner-up.
“Hats off to our guys for fighting when stuff wasn’t going well for them,” Roberts said. “(Adversity) is one of the biggest things we’re trying to get out of the early season portion because there will be nights when things are not going our way. They stayed with it, took deep breaths, and went out there and executed when we needed to and got big stops when needed.”
Throughout the third, the contest proved to be either team’s to win or lose. Mayfield continued to loom, inching closer to the Mustangs’ lead. Gibson and Morton worked the court but could not answer Miller’s offense for McCracken County. During the third quarter, Miller went 2-for-4 at the charity stripe while Jackson and Jackson Diaz were McCracken’s only other offensive contributors.
Heading into the fourth quarter, the Mustangs held on to a two-point lead with eight minutes left in regulation. Luckily for McCracken County, the team took advantage of Mayfield’s foul trouble. The Mustangs appeared at the free throw line eight times in the quarter, going 9-for-15.
Like Jackson, Morton suffered an injury from the same collision but returned to the floor before fouling out in the fourth quarter. In addition to Mayfield losing Morton to five fouls, Gibson collected his fifth to foul out before the contest was over in the final quarter.
Until the final second of the contest, Webb answered whenever McCracken County would pull away from the Cardinals. The junior guard for Mayfield posted eight points in the quarter.
McCracken County will head to Reed Conder Gymnasium to meet with a familiar regional foe, Marshall County, on Friday night in a doubleheader. The Mustangs will return home for the district matchup against St. Mary on Saturday in a doubleheader.
The Mayfield Cardinals will travel to Cairo (IL) on Thursday night in a doubleheader before returning home to host Hickman County on Friday night, with the Lady Cardinals kicking off the doubleheader.
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 71, MAYFIELD 63
MHS 22 9 13 19 — 63
MCHS 17 17 12 25 — 71
MHS: Pate 16, Morton 15, Webb 13, Morris 6. FIELD GOALS: 16 (Webb 5, Gibson 4, Morris 3, Pate 2, Morton 2). 3-POINT FG: 9 (Pate 4, Morton 3, Webb, Gibson). FREE THROWS: 4/6. RECORD: 1-2.
MCHS: C. Miller 19, J. Klope 17, D. Jackson 14, C. Fulcher 10, J. Martin 5, G. Parish 4, J. Diaz 2. FIELD GOALS: 21 (J. Klope 7, C. Fulcher 5, C. Miller 4, G. Parish 2, D. Jackson 2, J. Diaz). 3-POINT FG: 5 (C. Miller 2, D. Jackson 2, J. Martin). FREE THROWS: 14/23. RECORD: 5-1.