On opening night of the First Region Boys Basketball Tournament, the McCracken County Mustangs extended their winning streak to 18 games after fending off the Mayfield Cardinals, lengthening their short lead in the second half to secure the 63-49 win.
“The regional tournament in Region 1 is always a grind,” McCracken head coach Dustin Roberts said following the win. “It’s a possession by possession game. We knew every game was going to be tough out here. We knew Mayfield is a good basketball team, well coached, and they were going to give us a battle. They absolutely did.”
Despite some cold shooting from deep in the early stages, the Cardinals were hanging around with relentless defensive pressure from their starting five. After the Mustangs held a 16-10 advantage after one, the Cardinals netted six straight off an Ashton Flint three followed by a Gray Robbins and-one to knot the game at 16.
The Mustangs regrouped with a three by Aaron Adams and a quick four-point run by Miles Woodfork that had them up 30-24 at the halftime break.
McCracken continued their momentum in the third, starting the quarter off with a 10-2 run, capped off by a Woodfork converted and-one, to increase their lead to double figures for the first time in the game.
In the fourth, McCracken extended their lead to as much as 17, all but solidifying their victory. Flint got a pair of threes to go late that cut Mayfield’s deficit to 11, but they could not capitalize as the final ended at 63-49.
Woodfork earned the game’s MVP award with a team-high 23 points on 8-13 from the field. Owen Grogan contributed 13, six of which in the fourth quarter. Aaron Adams rounded out Mustangs in double figures with 12.
Ashton Flint’s three triples helped notch a high for the Cardinals of 17 points. He was the only Cardinal to crack double digits, as Gray Robbins finished with nine and Malik Kirby just behind him with eight. Mayfield finishes their season at a 15-13 record.
McCracken will now face Marshall County for the third time this year in the region semifinal game. McCracken has won both meetings so far, but by a combined margin of just eight points. Their most recent matchup was in late January, where Garrett Miller sent the Marshals packing with a fadeaway three at the buzzer. The Marshals will without a doubt come into this matchup on Saturday with a chip on their shoulder, while the Mustangs look to finish off the season sweep and earn a spot in the region championship game.
“We just gotta have a lot of fight, a lot of toughness,” Roberts said about Saturday’s matchup. “It’s going to be a physical game as it always is between us and Marshall. They got good players. We got good players. I think our guys are pretty excited about getting this one going Saturday, and we need two really good days of prep going into that one.”
“That’s probably the biggest game of the year,” Woodfork said. “We won the past two, so this one, they’ll be ready for us and we’ll be ready for them. I think we’re the better basketball team and it’s gonna show on Saturday.”
McCracken versus Marshall will take place on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the CFSB Center in Murray.
game stats
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 16 | 14 | 12 | 21 — 63
MAYFIELD 10 | 14 | 8 | 17 — 49
MCC: M. Woodfork 23, O. Grogan 13, A. Adams 12, J. Martin 8, J. Klope 7
MAY: A. Flint 17, G. Robbins 9, M. Kirby 8, O. Byrd 6, M. Hoover 4, B. Eubanks 3, G. Morris 2