Out to an early lead that turned into double digits by the third quarter, Crittenden’s girls were sailing right along a peaceful sea until the Lady Storm mustered up one final gust of wind. Hopkins Central, winner of 18 games this season, came full bore in the final four minutes, deploying all the press it could muster. However, CCHS weathered the storm with a steady hand at the foul line and beat the Storm 42-30.
Crittenden County has now won in the quarterfinal round of the regional tournament three times since 2010 and only twice before that – in 1976 and 1984. Girls didn’t play basketball at Crittenden County until 1973.
The Fifth District champion Lady Rockets led by 15 points in the final seconds of the third quarter thanks to a three-pointer and 16-foot jumper for back-to-back buckets by eighth-grader Anna Boone, who finished with 10 points. Those points were critical for the Rocket girls to buoy the Storm’s final flurry. Eighth-grader Elliot Evans scored the team’s only field goal in the fourth period as CCHS relied on its keen foul shooting to close the door on Hopkins Central, which cut the Lady Rocket lead to nine with three minutes to go.
The Central girls struggled to get open shots against Crittenden’s defense and missed often. The Lady Storm made 11 field goals in the game, and Crittenden was equally unimpressive from the floor at times, settling for only 11 itself. Scoring sensation Taylor Guess led CCHS with 18 points, but counted only three fielders the whole way, none in the second half. However, she was 12-for-15 at the stripe where CCHS knocked in 14 points. Crittenden was 9-for-11 at the line in the final period and 5-for-6 in the last minute.
Hopkins Central’s second-leading scorer Brooklyn Clark was held to just two points. Guess spent much of the game guarding her, and Clark returned the favor, which cost her five fouls and she went to the bench with over five minutes to play. Emilie Jones got her typical 13 points per game for the Lady Storm, but no one else had more than five.
The Lady Rockets improved to 23-7, the second most wins in 29-year skipper Shannon Hodge’s career. As the CCHS coach, Hodge has now advanced three teams to regional semifinals and she played on the 1984 team that got there.
Crittenden will play 18-11 Webster County – an opponent it split with during the regular season - in Wednesday’s 7:30pm semifinal at Madisonville. Henderson plays Madisonville in the 6pm semifinal matchup.
Hopkins Central 5 10 18 30
Crittenden Co. 8 21 31 42
HOPKINS – Fritz 3, Mason 5, Peyton, White, Clark 2, Sutton 3, Jones 13, Greer 4. FG 12. 3-pointers 1 (Jones). FT 5-9.
CRITTENDEN – Guess 18, N.Boone 4, A.Boone 10, Hatfield 6, Driskill 2, Evans 2. FG 13. 3-pointers 2 (A.Boone). FT 14-18.
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