SALYERSVILLE – Magoffin County moved ahead early but couldn’t keep up its early pace as Paintsville answered and eventually pulled away to win 57-46 in the 57th District Boys’ Basketball Tournament Semifinals on Wednesday, March 17.
The Tigers defeated the Hornets for the third time in 2020-21 boys’ high school basketball season.
With the loss, Magoffin County ended its season 12-12.
Paintsville improved to 11-8 with the win.
The Hornets started strong, outscoring Paintsville 17-9 in the first quarter. Magoffin County held on to lead 24-22 at halftime prior to falling behind after the break. Paintsville outscored the Hornets 35-22 following the intermission period to claim the victory.
Paintsville shot 43.8 percent (21-of-48) from the field. The Tigers were 4-of-13 (30.8 percent) from 3-point range.
Paintsville shot 73.3 percent (11-of-15) from the free throw line.
The 2019-20 57th District Runner-up, Paintsville featured three scorers in double figures.
Colby Fugate scored 19 points and corralled eight rebounds to pace the Tigers. Shooting, Fugate finished 8-of-15 from inside the arc.
Following Fugate in scoring for Paintsville, Baron Ratliff netted 17 points. Helping to pace Paintsville on the backboards, Ratliff grabbed eight rebounds.
Accompanying Fugate and Ratliff in double figures in scoring, Connor Fugate contributed 14 points for the Tigers.
Rounding out Paintsville’s individual scoring, Jaxon Watts added four points and Braxton Tharp chipped in three points.
Aden Barnett paced Magoffin County, scoring a team-high 19 points for the Hornets. Joining Barnett in double figures for Magoffin County, Isaiah Salyer netted 16 points.
Ben Lafferty and Zane Whitaker rounded out the Hornets’ individual scoring, finishing with eight points and three points, respectively,
Paintsville advanced to meet crosstown rival Johnson Central in the 57th District boys’ basketball tournament title game.
