On Friday night, another chapter in the rivalry was written as Paducah Tilghman and McCracken County squared off in a doubleheader at Strawberry Hills Pharmacy Arena. The matchups come just two weeks after McCracken picked up the sweep away at Tilghman.
With a pair of wins, both the Mustangs and Lady Mustangs secured the No. 1 spots in the Second District tournament.
MUSTANGS 62, BLUE TORNADO 54
In a high-intensity, back-and-forth affair, the Mustangs completed the season sweep over the Blue Tornado, picking up a 62-54 victory.
McCracken County senior Connor Miller led the scoring for the Mustangs, ended his night with 19 points. Just behind him on the scoresheet was sophomore Jackson Klope, who tallied 18 points on the game.
Leading all scorers on the evening was Paducah Tilghman sophomore Miles Woodfork, who put up 22 points in defeat for the Tornado. Senior Jimmy Harris and junior Ahmad Wilkins each cracked double digits, tallying 10 points apiece, while senior Omari Williams finished with nine.
The visitors came storming out of the gates, as junior Joshua Campbell drove straight to the basket following the tip to put the Tornado on the board within seconds. Despite the quick start for Tilghman, the Mustangs controlled the early minutes of play, as they responded promptly to take the lead.
McCracken smothered Tilghman defensively, stinging them at the other end as they embarked on a 10-1 run following the layup from Campbell. Following a timeout for the Blue Tornado, Harris and Woodfork combined for five points for the visitors, as they slashed the margin back down to a single possession. However, a three from McCracken’s Jay Martin rekindled the Mustang’s momentum, as they closed the remained of the quarter out with a 12-3 run, doubling the Tornado up to lead 22-11 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter started slow, as the two sides exchanged opportunities with little to show for. The first breakthrough of the second came for Tilghman, as Wilkins knocked down a pair of threes in quick succession to light a fire beneath the Tornado, as they cut the lead down to single digits.
Tilghman clamped down on the Mustangs defensively in the early stages of the quarter while pouring on the pressure offensively, as an 11-4 run forced a timeout call by McCracken. Following the much needed stoppage, the Mustangs found their footing in the quarter, as play evened out. Across the final minutes of the quarter, McCracken outscored Tilghman 7-4, as they held a 33-26 lead headed into halftime.
“It’s always tough when you play Tilghman,” McCracken County head coach Dustin Roberts said. “You’ve just got to find ways to win, and our guys made some plays down the stretch that allowed us to do that.”
The second half of play got underway at a blistering pace, as the Tornado cut the lead back down to a single possession by opening the third with a 6-2 run. Following the early run, Tilghman continued to find success offensively, but struggled to contain the Mustangs at the other end, who matched their offensive output every step of the way, keeping them at arms length.
Both teams continued to go end-to-end, trading baskets as the margin hovered around two possessions. The Mustangs gained some separation thanks to four points from Klope, closely followed by a three from Owen Grogan, as their lead grew to seven points late in the quarter.
Back-and-forth action closed out the quarter, as Tilghman outscored the Mustangs 5-4 following the Grogan three, as McCracken clung to a 47-41 advantage headed into a crucial final frame.
Looking to preserve their lead, the Mustangs kicked off the fourth in full gear, as Klope put home a pair of layups in quick succession to put McCracken up by 10 in the early moments of the quarter. The Mustangs continued to hold long possessions on offense, running the clock down as they hoped to maintain their advantage, giving Tilghman as few looks as possible.
However, the Tornado made good on whatever opportunities they could find, mustering a 7-0 run at the midway point of the quarter, capped off by Woodfork sinking a three from the corner to cut the lead down to four.
“They picked us up a little bit more than they did in the last game, I don’t know how much it bothered us, but it made a difference tonight,” Roberts said. “I thought they got off to a better start than they did at their place, and it was pretty even all the way through tonight. It comes down to who executes down the stretch; you have to do that against good basketball teams, and Tilghman’s a good team. Our guys executed tonight, we got some easy baskets down low to Klope, which I thought was the difference in this game.”
Five points from Klope and Miller against a further two from Tilghman kept the Mustangs ahead, as the clock ticked past a minute to play. Despite late baskets from Harris and Woodfork, McCracken tacked on another five points of their own to keep the Tornado at arm’s length, closing out the game to claim a 63-56 victory.
Lady Mustangs 77, Lady Tornado 30
In the earlier of the two games, the Lady Mustangs faced off against the Lady Tornado. The game came in the wake of McCracken County’s 68-29 win over the Lady Tornado when the teams played just two weeks prior at Tilghman. In a similarly dominant fashion, the Lady Mustangs controlled the action across four quarters as they kicked the doubleheader off with a resounding 77-30 victory.
Leading the scoring for the Lady Mustangs was senior Claire Johnson, who put forward a 30-point performance, which included a 22-point second quarter. Also on form for McCracken was senior Mikee Buchanan, who notched 23 points on the night. Sophomore Reagan Hill provided late scoring for the Lady Mustangs, as she finished with eight points.
Atop the scoresheet for Tilghman was sophomore Myiesha Smith, who finished with 16 points on the evening. Other key contributors for the Lady Tornado were seniors Alex Harris and Jayla Reed, who finished with six and four points respectively.
The Lady Tornado got the scoring underway immediately, as Harris snagged the loose ball off the tip, finishing the layup at the end. Following the early basket, McCracken took their first lead of the night, as Buchanan and Johnson combined for five points, accounting for the first and final lead change of the night.
From there, the Lady Mustangs controlled the lion’s share of the possession, filling out their lead as they embarked on a 15-2 run over the middle minutes of the quarter. Buchanan proved to be a dominant presence in the paint for McCracken, accounting for 14 points on the quarter, while Johnson provided efficient outside shooting.
Tilghman started to string some offensive together late, outscoring the Mustangs 7-2 across the final moments, as McCracken held onto a 22-13 lead after one.
Freshman LeZharia Bolen looked to squash any momentum built by the Lady Tornado late in the first, as she sank a three just seconds into the quarter to get the Lady Mustangs on the board. However, scoring slowed for either side in the early moments of the second, as McCracken went silent for three minutes, while the visitors only managed three points, all from the foul line.
With five minutes to play, Johnson broke the silence with a three, kicking off what became a dominant stretch of play for the senior. Johnson, who had earlier been honored for scoring her 2,000th point for the Lady Mustangs, went on a tear, scoring 14 unanswered points across a span of three minutes, in what ended up being an 18-0 run for McCracken.
Following the big scoring swing for the Lady Mustangs, play evened out as Smith snapped the run for Tilghman from the line. Johnson continued her stellar quarter, notching six more points as McCracken took a commanding 51-22 lead into halftime.
As the second half got underway, the Lady Mustangs looked to build even further on their lead. To open up the third, they continued to control the pace of play, suffocating the Tornado on defense while continuing to pile on points, starting the quarter with a 7-2 run as their lead expanded beyond 30 points.
Most of the Lady Mustang’s scoring came through Reagan Hill, as she accounted for eight of McCracken’s 15 points in the third. At the other end, the Lady Tornado were held to just five points across the third, as the score sat at 68-27 headed into the fourth quarter.
With a deficit of over 40 points, the final quarter was all but a formality as the Lady Mustangs looked to close the door on an emphatic victory. Mass substitutes found the floor as the clock continued to wind down, with scoring at a minimum.
Across the entire fourth quarter, the Lady Mustangs outscored Tilghman 9-3, as the buzzer sounded on a 77-30 victory for the hosts. The victory marks the Lady Mustangs’ 25th consecutive victory over Tilghman, dating back to 2015.
Looking ahead for McCracken County, the boys have a quick turnaround as they face Todd County Central on Saturday, while the girls return to action on the February 9 when they take on Graves County.
As for Tilghman, the girls look to bounce back Saturday as they return home against Livingston Central, while the boys also return to action, seeking revenge against Marshall County.