Henderson County held off the Union County Braves 65-58 Friday night in Morganfield. With the win, Henderson earned the top seed for the 6th District Tournament, which begins February 23 at Webster County High School, and more importantly secured an automatic berth in the 2nd Region Tournament the following week.
Henderson led 19-14 after one quarter behind Amare Stewart’s 9 points, and pushed the advantage to 39-28 at halftime. Stewart was red hot in the opening half, going 5-for-5 from three and 5-for-5 at the free-throw line to score 20 points against the Braves’ zone defense.
Union adjusted defensively in the second half and closed the gap to 50-45 after three. The Braves would get as close as two points, but Henderson responded late as Xavion Johnson scored 9 points in the fourth quarter and MaLaikye Taylor controlled the glass, pulling down 6 rebounds in the final period to help seal the win.
Both teams shot the ball well. Henderson finished 14-of-20 at the free-throw line and 5-of-13 from three, while Union went 11-of-13 at the line and 8-of-17 from beyond the arc. Henderson won the rebounding battle 29-24 and committed just 7 turnovers to Union’s 11.
Stewart led all scorers with 20 points and 5 rebounds. Johnson added 16 points and 5 rebounds. Travis Little finished with 9 points and 4 boards. Taylor had 8 points and 7 rebounds. Steph Thomas scored 4, and Braden Williams chipped in 2 points and 2 rebounds.
The Colonels are back in action Monday at 7:30 p.m. on the road at Hopkins County Central.
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