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March 14, 2012
Warriors down Hoptown 52-41; advance to state’s Elite Eight
By MICHAEL CHILDERS, CJ Correspondent
Commonwealth Journal

Lexington — The Southwestern Warriors wanted to make their first trip to the PNC/KHSAA Boys’ Sweet 16 Basketball State Tournament worthwhile.

Steve Wright and company made their stay in Lexington last just a little bit longer, as the Warriors used a 26-3 run in the second and third quarters to get past Hopkinsville by a final tally of 52-41 yesterday afternoon at Rupp Arena.

With the 11-point victory over the Hopkinsville Tigers, who came into the contest with a record of 32-2, Southwestern punched their tickets into the Elite Eight for the first time in the school’s 19-year history, where they will square-off with Rowan County. The Vikings of Rowan County advanced to the quarterfinals with a 64-46 triumph over North Laurel and moved to 26-7 on the year.

It was a rough beginning for the Warriors and the Tigers, as both team combined for 13 points in the opening quarter of action. At the end of the first period, Hopkinsville lead by a lone point at 7-6.

Jordan Majors, who scored 11 of his club’s team-high 18 points, got the Tigers off to a hot start in the second quarter of play. Hopkinsville opened the quarter with a 7-0 spurt to take a 14-6 lead over the Warriors.

Midway through the second frame things would change for the better for Southwestern, as the Warriors would go on a 12-0 run to take a 20-17 lead into the locker room at the intermission.

With 5:17 left until the halftime break, a put back from freshman Isaiah Collier kicked off the 12-point Southwestern run. Collier’s score cut the Tigers’ lead to seven points at 17-10.

After a free-throw from sophomore Justin Edwards, Collier came up with another basket to make the score 17-13 and stretch the run out to five unanswered points. Sophomore David Kapinga got a lay-up and a jump shot to knot the game up at 17-17 with 1:29 remaining in the second quarter.

Senior Daulton Marlow came off of the bench and came up with a huge three-pointer that gave Southwestern a 20-17 advantage and their first lead of the game since early in the first quarter. Thanks to the 12-point run, the Warriors would never trail again.

Wright, who in his first season delivered the school their first-ever 12th Region championship, knew his team would come out of the gates a bit antsy because of their lack of experience on the big stage of the State Tournament at Rupp Arena.

“I’ve never seen a kid that comes here for the first time not play on their heels,” explained Wright of the Warriors’ sluggish start. “We played a little tentatively and left (Jordan) Majors open a couple times, then we took a timeout and addressed that. We really showed some maturity and stepped back on the floor. They were right on the verge of getting away from us.”

The Warriors would continue to roll past Hopkinsville in the second half, as they outscored the Tigers by an 11-point margin at 17-6. In the third session, Southwestern was paced by an eight-point performance from senior Justin Epperson.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Warriors led by 14 points with the score being 37-23.

The Tigers didn’t shy away from Southwestern, however, as they opened the fourth and final period with a 6-1 spurt, which included two treys from Demarius Henry. Edwards, with 5:07 left in the contest, knocked down a jumper to widen the game back to 11 points at 40-29.

Hopkinsville would score six consecutive points, including four points from Jaqualis Matlock, to shrink Southwestern’s lead to 41-25 with 3:14 remaining. Once again, Edwards would score to keep the momentum from total shifting into the direction of the Tigers.

A Matlock dunk with 57 seconds left in the game made the score, 49-40, in favor of the ‘Blue and Orange.’ Three made free-throws from senior Cody Epperson sealed the deal for the Warriors, sending Hopkinsville home for the season.

The Warriors received a huge lift from Justin Epperson in the second half, as he was nothing short of magnificent, pouring in 14 of his game-high 18 points. Epperson, who didn’t start the game, came off the bench and had a nice game that allowed the Warriors to move to 28-8 and advance on in the State Tournament.

Wright was pleased with the way Epperson has taken on his role of coming off of the bench all season long.

“At times this year, Justin Epperson has waited to get into the game because sometimes (Isaiah) Collier is shooting the ball good, or Cody (Epperson) is shooting the good, or (Daulton) Marlow is playing good,” explained the veteran head coach. “Sometimes Justin got left out - literally. I told him after the game that he was the ultimate team player, because he has not complained one time.”

“As a coach, it’s a special moment to see him have a big game, because he deserves it and he waited his turn,” praised Wright, who won a state title in 2005 while coaching at South Laurel. “He is a great example of a team player for younger kids to realize that you aren’t going to be the man and you’ve got to wait your turn.”

For his 18-point and three rebound performance, Epperson was named the National Guard Player of the Game, as well as, the Subway Sub of the game.

Edwards finished with a double-double in the ballgame, scoring 10 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. Kapinga joined Justin Epperson and Edwards in double figures, as the sophomore tallied 10 points, as well.

Hopkinsville was led by Majors, who tallied 18 points. Henry chimed in with 10 points for the Tigers.

Both teams committed quite a bit of miscues in the contest, as Hopkinsville had 25 turnovers and the Warriors had 19. Neither team shot too well either, as the Tigers went 15 of 53 from the field for 28 percent, while Southwestern shot 17 of 46 for 37 percent.

The Warriors will play in the unfamiliar territory of the quarterfinals, while their next opponent - Rowan County - is no stranger to the big stage, as the Vikings advanced all the way to the championship game of the State Tournament last season.

There is an interesting twist added to Friday afternoon’s contest, as Rowan County head coach Shawn Thacker, who used to be the Somerset Briar Jumpers head coach, will get to coach against his former mentor in Wright.

First round games of the State Tournament will continue today in Lexington, with quarterfinals being played tomorrow.

Southwestern and Rowan County will kick-off the day of quarterfinals hoops action tomorrow at noon at Rupp Arena.



SOUTHWESTERN 52, HOPKINSVILLE 41



HOPKINSVILLE (32-3):

MAJORS, JORDAN 6-12 4-7 18; HENRY, DEMARIUS 3-7 1-2 10; SMITH, LAURENCE 2-5 0-0 4; MATLOCK, JAQUALIS 2-8 0-0 4; BELL, ROBERT 1-2 0-2 2; WHEELER, KENYON 1-5 0-0 2; EDWARDS, TRA 0-5 1-2 1; CAGER, DEMARIUS 0-0 0-0 0; DAVIS, TAVARUS 0-0 0-0 0; CHILDRESS, C.J. 0-3 0-0 0; ELAM, T.J. 0-3 0-0 0; WHITE, DARIUS 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 15-53 6-13 41.



SOUTHWESTERN (28-8):

EPPERSON, JUSTIN 6-7 6-6 18; KAPINGA, DAVID 5-10 0-0 10; EDWARDS, JUSTIN 3-13 4-7 10; EPPERSON, CODY 1-3 4-6 6; DAULTON, MARLOW 1-2 0-0 3; LEWIS, ROBBY 0-1 3-6 3; COLLIER, ISAIAH 1-8 0-0 2; SCHULZ, JUSTIN 0-2 0-0 0. Totals

17-46 17-25 52.



HHS 7 10 6 18 — 41

SWHS 6 14 17 15 — 52



3-point goals--HOPKINSVILLE 5-15 (HENRY, DEMARIUS 3-7; MAJORS, JORDAN 2-3; EDWARDS, TRA 0-2; CHILDRESS, C.J. 0-1; ELAM, T.J. 0-2), SOUTHWESTERN 1-12 (DAULTON, MARLOW 1-1; KAPINGA, DAVID 0-2; EDWARDS, JUSTIN 0-2; EPPERSON, CODY 0-1; COLLIER, ISAIAH 0-5; SCHULZ, JUSTIN 0-1). Fouled out--HOPKINSVILLE-CAGER, DEMARIUS; WHEELER, KENYON, SOUTHWESTERN-None. Rebounds--HOPKINSVILLE 35 (SMITH, LAURENCE 7; WHEELER, KENYON 7), SOUTHWESTERN 37 (EDWARDS, JUSTIN 12). Assists--HOPKINSVILLE 6 (CAGER, DEMARIUS 3), SOUTHWESTERN 9 (SCHULZ, JUSTIN 2; EPPERSON, CODY 2; EPPERSON, JUSTIN 2). Total fouls--HOPKINSVILLE 18, SOUTHWESTERN 15. A-13,819

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