[Stardust]

LEXINGTON, KY. — Seven years after leading the South Laurel High School boys’ basketball team to its first state title, coach Steve Wright has another 12th Region school in contention.

Reserve Justin Epperson scored 18 points and Justin Edwards added 10 points and 12 rebounds as Pulaski Southwestern beat Hopkinsville 52-41 on Wednesday in a first-round game of the PNC/KHSAA Sweet Sixteen.

A crowd of 13,819 at Rupp Arena saw Pulaski Southwestern — which opened in 1993 — win in its first-ever Sweet 16 appearance.

Wright is in his first season with the Warriors after a combined 25 seasons and 570 victories at Walton-Verona, Laurel County and South Laurel. He guided South Laurel to the state championship in 2005.

“Last year (Southwestern) got to the finals of the region, and I think that’s why a lot of people didn’t apply for the job, because they didn’t want that pressure of trying to get here,” Wright said. “I don’t have much sense, so I applied.”

David Kapinga added 10 points and four steals as the Warriors (28-8) — No. 14 in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings — advanced to face Rowan County (26-7) in Friday’s noon quarterfinal.

Hopkinsville (32-3) got 18 points from Jordan Majors but couldn’t overcome 25 turnovers and 28.3 percent shooting. Standout freshman Jaqualis Matlock suffered an ankle injury early in the first quarter and finished with just four points and four rebounds in 18 minutes.

“That’s probably the worst game we’ve played offensively all year,” Tigers coach Tim Haworth said. “When you shoot 28 percent for the game, it’s going to be tough to beat anybody that’s good.”

Hopkinsville led 17-8 after a Majors 3-pointer early in the second quarter, but Pulaski Southwestern answered with a 12-0 run to take a 20-17 halftime lead.

It eventually became a 26-3 surge after Edwards sank two free throws for a 34-20 edge with 1:45 left in the third quarter.

“Even when we were up, I didn’t have a good feel for how we were playing,” Haworth said. “I thought we hurried everything. Pressure hadn’t bothered us all year … but tonight we weren’t going strong to the basket.”

Majors hit two free throws with 3:14 left to pull the Tigers within 41-35, but the Warriors scored six straight to put the game away.

Wright praised the play of Epperson, a 6-foot-3 senior who was averaging 5.2 points per game.

“Coach always tells us to go in there and play hard and rebound,” Epperson said. “I just tried to rebound and give my teammates more opportunities.”

Wright said he hasn’t been surprised by his team’s success.

“We’ve created a mind-set that we can do this,” he said. “Our team motto all year has been, ‘Running Down a Dream.’ If you don’t chase something, you’ll never possess it.”
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