It was a battle that many thought would determine the 15th Region Player of the Year. After Friday night, nothing has been decided. Magoffin County’s Aden Barnett scored 47 points, but Pike County Central’s Jaylan Rigdon scored 34 points and hit the winning basket in the final seconds as the Hawks picked up a 76-75 home win.
The Hornets (8-8) took the early lead, 18-14, after the first quarter. Magoffin County and the Hawks kept going back and forth as the Hornets went into the locker room with a 32-27 advantage.
Pike County Central (8-7) and Magoffin County kept fighting back and forth in the third frame, but the Hornets held a 57-49 lead heading into the final quarter.
From there, the Hawks mounted a comeback for the second game in a row and found themselves up, 74-73, with under a minute left. Then, Barnett hit a twirling shot in the lane to put the Hornets up, 75-74, with 0:29 left.
The Hawks had one final chance. Rigdon drove to the basket and missed as the clock wound down, but he grabbed his offensive rebound and put it back in to take a 76-75 lead and force Magoffin County to take a timeout with 2.9 seconds left. The Hornets couldn’t get a shot off and the Hawks celebrated the win on their home court.
Rigdon also had 9 rebounds and 4 assists to go along with his 34 points to lead the Hawks. Jaden Stewart followed with 17 points. Peyton Owens netted 15 points. Grant Hall recorded 8 points. Brad Biliter chipped in with 2 points.
Walker Russell followed Barnett’s 47 points with 9 points of his own. Grayson Whitaker added 8 points. Zane Whitaker recorded 4 points. Noah Sammons scored 3 points. Ethan Salyer and Reed Meadows finished with 2 points apiece.
Pike County Central will next host Lawrence County on Thursday at 7:30 pm. Magoffin County is scheduled to host Paintsville on Tuesday at 7:30 pm.
