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Lady Rockets Addie Hatfield (3) and Grace
Driskill work to slow down Webster's best player
Raigan Price in the regional semifinal. |
When the Price is right and the defense does not wrong, Webster County is a formidable opponent. The Lady Trojans had its big gun ruling the paint and an impenetrable zone that created havoc for Crittenden County in the Second Region semifinal Wednesday at Madisonville.
The game was close early, but Webster put it away late as CCHS began pushing the envelope trying to make up ground before falling 52-33. Crittenden trailed by 10 to start the final frame.
Senior Raigan Price scored 24 points for Webster, most of them catching the ball on the block and backing in for layups. Some believe she is the best player in the region. Price scored at will as CCHS had no answer for her power moves at the post. On the perimeter, freshman Hannah Yates complemented Price’s interior domination with four three-pointers, all but one of them in the first period to help Webster set the tone early.
Crittenden’s bread is typically butter at the foul line, but there was nothing on the table. The Webster defense was quick to close the lanes, keeping Lady Rocket all-region player and leading scorer Taylor Guess out of the lane and off the charity stripe.
Crittenden got to the foul line only once during the entire game, and Guess scored 12 points – 10 below her average – to lead the Rocket girls. No one else was in double figures, but Natalie Boone scored eight. She and Guess made a couple of threes apiece, but CCHS misfired on many more. Unable to get the ball inside, Crittenden had to rely on spotty long-range shooting that simply couldn’t keep pace with Price and Co.
The Lady Rockets trailed by 11 in the first quarter and a dozen in the third, but otherwise the first three periods were waged with Webster steadily leading by seven to nine points. In the fourth, however, CCHS started gambling a bit more and Webster raised the stakes, grabbing long rebounds from Crittenden’s missed threes and getting easy baskets on the other end.
The Lady Rockets finish the season 23-8, the second most wins in coach Shannon Hodge’s 29-year tenure and the girls’ fifth trip to the regional semifinals in school history.
Webster will take their 19-11 record into the regional championship game against Kentucky’s No. 12 team Henderson County, a rematch of the Sixth District final a week earlier. Webster was runner-up in the Sixth while Henderson (23-4) was the champion. Henderson dispatched Madisonville 48-34 in Wednesday’s other semifinal game.
Crittenden Co. 6 14 23 33
Webster Co. 15 21 33 52
CRITTENDEN – Guess 12, N.Boone 8, A.Boone 3, Hatfield 2, Driskill 4, Evans 4. FG 14. 3-pointers 4 (Guess 2, N.Boone 2). FT 1-2.
WEBSTER – Shepard 8, Shoulders 4, Hinton 2, Rakestraw 2, Yates 12, Price 24, Cates. FG 22. 3-pointers 4 (Yates). FT 4-7.
