McCracken County boys basketball team extended their win streak to 12 on Tuesday after Miles Woodfork’s 27 points spoiled Murray High’s senior night, the Mustangs taking home the 63-43 victory. The Tigers cut it to as close as nine in the later stages, but McCracken held strong with some timely run to fend off any comeback attempt.
“I thought we were pretty good defensively,” head coach Dustin Roberts said following his team’s win. “Offensively, we went through spurts where we were really good. Overall, we could’ve done a little better at that. We had a few turnover and a few bad decisions, but overall good performance on the road.”
Miles Woodfork had an incredibly efficient 27 points, a game-high where he shot 60% from the field and 7-8 from the free throw line, picking up a few steals along the way. Coach Roberts was proud of the way he played tonight, citing his importance to the team’s success.
“He’s had a few games where he hasn’t maybe been as explosive offensively as he usually is. He got back on track tonight, and that really set the tone for us.”
After getting down by more than 15 out of the half, the Tigers started to regroup in the third quarter with six points from Ryan Walls and a pair from Micah Wyatt and Aiden Armstrong. They cut their deficit to just 39-30 halfway through the period, but went cold following the run.
“Murray’s a really good basketball team. You see how they’ve come back from down however many in some other games and come back to win. We warned our guys, there’s no letdown here. We got to be mentally prepared to go out here and fight for four quarters, and I thought our guys answered the call today.”
The Mustangs responded with a 15-4 run to increase their lead to 20, eliminating any hope the Tigers had at a comeback. The final buzzer rang with 62-43 displayed.
McCracken did have a difficult time holding sophomore Ryan Walls down in the paint. He collected multiple boards on both sides of the court, and finished with a team-high 12 points as the only Tiger to crack double figures. Micah Wyatt and Maddox Mitchell finished behind him, each tallying nine.
Woodfork led McCracken with 27. Jackson Klope tallied nine on 4-5 shooting, and Paxton Carver and Owen Grogan each finished with six.
Winning their last 12 and now 22-3 on the season, Coach Roberts does not believe this team has hit their peak yet. They have just three games left in the regular season against Graves, Hopkinsville, and Calloway, each an opportunity to fine tune things before the upcoming postseason.
“Just keep getting better. There is room for improvement for this team, and we have to reach the ceiling of it,” Roberts said. “We’re not there yet. There’s some things we definitely can get better at and just keep striving for that. Hopefully we peak at the right time.”
Murray, now 18-5, also has just three chances to bounce back from this loss to wrap up their regular season. They take the rest of the week off to recoup before playing Fulton City on Monday.