First, Magoffin County made the Thursday night game interesting. Then, the Hornets made all connected to the Maroon and White happy.
Up by double figures with just over three minutes remaining, Magoffin County appeared well on its way to a successful and relaxing victory.
But Paintsville took advantage of some Hornet turnovers and missed free throws to draw even inside the final minute, bringing much doubt to what had the resemblance of a sure thing.
In one of those all’s-well-that-ends-well types of situations, though, Hornet coaches, players, and fans forgot the near collapse and went home in winning style.
With just over 30 seconds showing on the fourth quarter clock, Casey Adams drew a foul on an attempted offensive putback.
Adams, who finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, connected on the backend of the two-shot trip for what proved to be the game winning point.
Paintsville failed on a final scoring opportunity and the Hornets claimed a 64-63 victory in front of the John Sam Bailey Memorial Gymnasium crowd.
Magoffin County, led by Cody Sparks and his 21 points, improved to 4-13 overall while claiming its second 57th District victory in five tries.
Freshman guard Nathan Howard scored 11 points and handed out five assists while John David Kazee and Zach Harvey added 10 and nine points respectively to the winning effort.
The Hornets, who also got two points from Joe Hall, split their two regular season games with Paintsville, having lost on the Tigers’ home court after taking a five-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Magoffin County played catch-up for most of the first half, trailing by five after the first quarter and by one point heading into the halftime break.
The Hornets used a strong third quarter to gain control, outscoring Paintsville 19-12 and went on up by as many as 12 points in the final frame.
Paintsville, led by Josh Green’s 22 points and the 16 scored by Trevor Tiller, lost for the third straight time and dipped to 5-12 overall.
The Tigers, scheduled to play 57th District foe Johnson Central Friday, are 2-2 against district competition.
Magoffin County, which defeated Johnson Central for its other district victory, will return to district competition Tuesday night at Lawrence County.