Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Rockets 3rd at holiday tournament in LaRue

Landon Young got an Army backpack for making the
all-tournament team. And, his little brother pulled
a photo bomb in the background. He's as proud as we are!

HODGENVILLE, Ky. – Crittenden County (9-1) closed out its holiday tournament action with a 16-point win

over Carroll County (6-5) Wednesday in the National Guard Holiday Classic at LaRue County.

Landon Young scored 23 points, including 11 in the fourth period as Crittenden won going away and capture third place in the eight-team tournament. Young was named to all-tournament team and won game MVP honors twice, including the final contest against Carroll County.

Crittenden's defense was especially strong in the second period as the Rockets allowed just one point and pulled ahead 22-15 after trailing most of the first period. See complete game scoring summary.








Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Boys winning streak comes to an end

LaRue County, the team hosting the National Guard Holiday Classic, beat Crittenden County 57-47 Tuesday, ending the Rockets' eight-game winning streak.

CCHS had started the season with more wins that any other team since consolidation of the city and county schools back in the 1950s.

Landon Young led the Rockets with 17 against LaRue and Colby Watson had 13. For more on the tournament, see this week's printed edition of The Crittenden Press.

Crittenden faces the Eight Region's Carroll County (6-4) at 1:30 Wednesday in a consolation game.

Lady Rockets win 2 of 3 at Classic; now 8-2 overall

Coach Hodge makes a point with less than 2 minutes to play in
the Lady Rockets' win over Livingston Central at Russellville.
Chelsea Oliver averaged 19 points over three games at the FSNB Christmas Classic at Russellville as the Lady
Rockets won 2 of 3 games there, including the fifth-place matchup against Livingston Central Tuesday afternoon.

Crittenden beat Livingston by nine thanks to some late heroics at the foul line. Livingston had trailed by a dozen, but closed to within 2 with less than a minute to play.

The Lady Rockets are now 8-2 overall and Livingston is 5-5. See Tuesday's game scoring summary.

See this week's printed edition of The Crittenden Press for coach Shannon Hodge's take on the girls' play at the Christmas tournament.

Monday, December 29, 2014

Young nets 26, earns Guard's Player of Game

Tournament official awarding Landon Young
Player of Game honors as coach Hodge stands by.
HODGENVILLE, Ky. – Landon Young scored 26 points and was named National Guard Player of the Game at
the LaRue County Christmas Tournament Monday.

The Rockets were in control of the game from start to finish, leading by double figures most of the way. The Rockets up almost 20 in the second half and everyone on the bench got in on the action. See complete game summary.

Colby Watson added 15 points for the Rockets, who remain undefeated and will play the National Guard Holiday Classic host team LaRue County at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday.



Oliver's milestone puts Lady Rockets on winning course

Coach Hodge and Chelsea Oliver.
Oliver's brother Casey also scored
more than 1,000 as a Rocket.
RUSSELLVILLE, Ky. – Chelsea Oliver's 1,000th career point couldn't have come at a more opportune moment. When she scored a putback with 2:21 left in the second period, Central Hardin was ahead by eight.

However, the pause in the action to present Oliver with the game ball – which she duly took into the stands for her mom and dad, Cathy and Joey Oliver, to keep – helped change the momentum. From there, Crittenden went on a 19-3 run and never looked back. See complete linescore.

The Lady Rockets beat Central Hardin 52-45 and earn a trip to the consolation bracket finals on Tuesday afternoon against a familiar foe – Livingston Central.


Lady Rockets drop opener at Russellville

Crittenden County's Lady Rockets dropped their opening matchup 57-48 against the host team at the Russellville Holiday Tournament.

The game was tied at the half before Russellville dropped out of its zone defense and frustrated the Lady Rockets with tight man-to-man pressure. The change frustrated Crittenden's halfcourt offense and Russellville held CCHS to just five points in the third period.

Foul trouble and poor shooting also plagued the Lady Rockets. Chelsea Oliver and Mallory McDowell worked the second half in foul trouble. Both played limited minutes, but McDowell was the only casualty to fouls. She left the game with just under three minutes to go.

Oliver finished with 19 points, leaving her needing just six to reach the 1,000-point milestone for her career. See complete linescore from game.

Russellville's left-handed forward Loreal Cheaney, just a sophomore, was her team's offensive catalyst. She scored 27, which is nine above her average.

The Lady Rockets play Central Hardin at 6:15 tonight in the consolation bracket. They will also play tomorrow.

Crittenden's boys play tonight at 8 pm in the LaRue County Tournament. See bracket.


Friday, December 19, 2014

Rockets, Lady Rockets making history with wins at LCHS

Crittenden's Dakota Watson and Dylan Hicks
contest a shot by LCHS's Colton Ramage.
See More Photos
It may very well be the best start in school history. For certain, the Rockets' 7-0 record out of the chute is the best December beginning in more than 50 years… and perhaps for the first time ever, the Crittenden County boys and girls are simultaneously 3-0 in the Fifth District and leading the standings outright.

Both CCHS teams won at Livingston Central Friday night.

The Rockets fended off a young, but pesky Livingston Central squad Friday night with offensive catalyst Landon Young in foul trouble most of the game. Crittenden won 59-41 as Noah Hadfield came off the bench to lead the way with 15 points.
(SEE GAME BOX SCORE)

Crittenden's girls (6-1) won a nail-biter, closing out Livingston in the final seconds to win 42-40 thanks to a couple of late foul shots and some good defense down the stretch.

In the boys' game, Hadfield was on fire at times. He scored 10 points in the second period alone, knocking down a couple of threes and helping extend Crittenden's early lead to 13 points.

Livingston paid particular attention to trying to stop Young's hot-handed scoring. The senior went into the bout average 24 points, but the Cardinals' box-and-one defense kept a defender in his face the entire game. The extra attention frustrated Young a bit and he stayed in foul trouble, eventually leaving with just under five minutes to play with five personals.

Colby Watson, the team's second leading scorer, struggled from the floor, too. He finished with eight points and Young had just five. With those two posting sub-par nights offensively, Hadfield, Dylan Hicks and Noah Dickerson stepped up their games. Hicks hit some timely foul shots late and a first-half three that sparked a crucial run. He finished with 11 and Dickerson had nine.

Crittenden scored 17 of its 23 fourth-quarter points at the line to finish off the victory.

Mallory McDowell, who was in the hospital with flu-like symptoms just two days earlier, was the inspiration for the Lady
Mallory McDowell (3) puts pressure on the ball as Livingston's
Hailey Stafford drives down court. See More Photos
Rocket victory at Smithland. She had two key threes in the game and finished with 11 points. Cassidy Moss led the scoring with a dozen and Chelsea Oliver had 10.
(SEE GAME BOX SCORE)

Crittenden led early by eight but Livingston's zone defense frustrated the CCHS girls as the Lady Cardinals clawed their way back behind Kalynn Campbell's long-range shooting in the second period. LCHS took its first lead in the second period and led by as many as six in the third quarter before Crittenden closed the gap in the final two mintues. 

McDowell stole the ball off Livingston's point and went the distance for a layup to tie the contest at 40 with just under a minute to go. Crittenden took its first lead of the second half with 10 seconds left when Oliver dropped in the front end of a two-shot chance at the charity stripe. She missed the second one and Livingston rebounded, but turned the ball over once the Cardinal girls had pushed the ball into their front court. There were just three seconds left at that juncture and a last-ditched foul let Crittenden score another point at the line just before time expired.




Thursday, December 18, 2014

George Hart holds record for best season all time!


Crittenden County basketball history is full of colorful stories and characters. Among them is George Hart, who was known as the Big Bulldog who played from 1946 to 1950 for the Frances Bulldogs. When he crossed mid court, Hart was in range. Had there been a three-point shot back then, he would have finished his career with more than the 2,604 points he collected.

Hart is the county's all-time leading scorer and when he finished high school, he held the national record for career scoring. He broke Wah Wah Jones's national record.

Hart was recruited to play basketball at UK, but he and legendary coach Adolph Rupp clashed once Hart was on campus in Lexington.

Hart scored 840 points as a sophomore at Frances, giving him Crittenden County's best single-season performance of all time. Of course that was before consolidation.

Hart and another legendary ball player, Carlisle Towery, were the first basketball players elected to the Marion-Crittenden County Hall of Fame in 1997.

Here is a list of Crittenden County High School's single-season best scoring performances:
  1. Bennett Smith 728 1971-72
  2. Lige Shadowen 642 1957-58
  3. Bennett Smith 620 70-71
  4. Bruce Belt 606 1954-55
  5. Tim Hill 540 04-05
  6. Don Brasher 510* 1952-53
  7. Jeff Shewcraft 505 1973-1974

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Unknowns are still undefeated! Now to Smithland

The Rockets beat Union County in a thriller last night at Rocket Arena. They remain undefeated after six games this season and head to Livingston Central Friday night for a showdown with the always pesky Cardinals.

Crittenden could take a 3-0 lead in the district standings with a win at Smithland.

Also, the girls are on the same course. Although the Lady Rockets lost to Hopkinsville Tuesday at Marion, they remain on an early-season high and go into Livingston with a 5-1 record and 2-0 mark in the district. Livingston's girls are 1-1 in the district.

Friday, December 12, 2014

Another Clean Sweep: CCHS dusts off Lyons

Crittenden County's boys and girls basketball teams made it a another night of sweeping up the district competition. The girls beat Lyon by 7 and boys won by 4. See all the details in next week's printed edition of The Crittenden Press.

Colby Watson dropped 23 points for the boys and Chelsea Oliver had 22 for the girls. Both teams remain undefeated after two weeks of action.

You can follow the boys on Twitter at #UnknownGuysInGray


Lady Rockets' Christmas tournament bracket

Click Image to Enlarge

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Crittenden sweeps Caldwell County, boys take 2OTs

Crittenden County's girls won their fourth straight game to start the season Tuesday night at Caldwell County.

The Rocket boys followed up with their second straight win, a double-overtime victory as Landon Young scored 39.

See this week's printed edition of The Crittenden Press for a complete wrapup.

Friday, December 5, 2014

Crittenden sweeps doubleheader at Trigg

Cassidy Moss scores 20 to lead the Lady Rockets to their third straight victory Friday, beating Trigg County 52-38 at Cadiz... and the Rockets upset district favorite Trigg by 10.

Crittenden's boys didn't score a basket in the second period as Trigg went on an 11-1 run to take a 9-point lead at the half. However, the Rockets destroyed Trigg's press in the second half and beat the Wildcats at the rim to win the game 45-35.

Wildcat star Tae Day did not play in the game. He averaged double digits in rebounds and points last year.



Rockets open with Trigg County tonight at Cadiz


The last time Crittenden and Trigg met on the basketball floor there was plenty of excitement, right down to the wire. They meet again Friday at Cadiz as the Rockets open their season on the road.

The Wildcats narrowly escaped Rocket Arena with their Fifth District title last March, winning in overtime after Crittenden almost stole the crown in regulation.

Trigg was clearly the most athletic team in the division last year and nothing has changed.

Head coach Payton Croft and the Wildcats were 18-8 a year ago and they return three starters, Demaria Nance, Detaveon Day and Tyreke Wilson. Debo Mayes will be another key player for the ‘Cats this season as they look for a third straight district championship.

Trigg’s biggest loss was Cole Gardner, who provided inside strength and could also shoot.

Trigg has won 14 of its last 16 games in the Fifth District and everyone knows Croft has the team to beat this time.

“They have the best players, they’re defending champs and they should be ranked No. 1” in the district, said Rocket coach Denis Hodge.

For the Rockets, it will be a testy first outing. Crittenden returns just one starter from last year’s team that took Trigg to the wire before finishing 9-21. 

Trigg opened with a win Tuesday against Dawson Springs.

Handling Trigg County’s speedy backcourt will be a challenge. Nance, the Wildcat point guard, was one of the league’s best last season and is just a junior this year. 

The largely inexperienced Rockets are certain to face plenty of defensive pressure from the Wildcats, baseline to baseline.

Friday’s District doubleheader tips off at 6 p.m., with the Lady Rockets’ game. The boys play 20 minutes following the girls’ contest.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Lady Rockets post opening victory!

Crittenden County opened its girls' basketball season with a big win at St. Mary Monday in Paducah.

UPDATE: Girls get second win Tuesday over Fort Campbell at Marion.

See The Press printed edition for details.