The Pikeville Panthers opened the game on a 13-0 run and went on to beat Pike County Central, 63-42, in the boys’ 15th Region basketball tournament championship game played at the Appalachian Wireless Arena on Monday night.
Pikeville, now 31-2, won its 12th championship in school history while the Hawks dropped to 0-4.
The Panthers will open Sweet 16 tournament action against Region 13 champion North Laurel and Kentucky commit Reed Sheppard at 8:30 pm on March 16.
Pikeville never relinquished the lead the entire game, building a 31-point advantage with under six minutes left.
Rylee Samons led three players in double-figure scoring with a game-high 22 points. Tournament MVP Keian Worrix followed with 12 and Laithan Hall net 11.
Jaylan Rigdon paced the Hawks with 21 points and Jaden Stewart added 13.
The only other time these two schools played in the championship game was in 1999, won by Pikeville, 58-47. It was also the first all-Pike County final since 2011.
At Pikeville
(15th Region championship)
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
PC (16-13)….2 15 6 19 – 42
PK (31-2)….17 12 19 15 – 63
Scoring:
Pike Central (42) – Jaylan Rigdon 3(5) 0-0 21; Josh Du Toit 2 1-1 5; Peyton Compton 0(1) 0-0 3; and Jaden Stewart 3(2) 1-2 13. Totals: 8(8) 2-3 42.
Pikeville (63) – Tate Walters 1 1-2 3; Laithan Hall 1(2) 3-3 11; Keian Worrix 3(1) 3-4 12; Rylee Samons 4(4) 2-2 22; Nick Robinson 4 0-0 8; and Heath Jarrell 2(1) 0-0 7. Totals: 15(8) 9-11 63.
Next up: Pikeville (31-2) vs. North Laurel (28-5), Sweet 16, Rupp Arena, Lexington, 8:30 pm, March 16.