Crittenden takes doubleheader at Livingston

GIRLS MAKE COACH SMILE

SMITHLAND, Ky. – Ahead of its trip to the small-school state tournament, Crittenden County made its coach smile Friday at Livingston Central with something she’d been wanting – a four-quarter, quality effort.

Crittenden guard Chloe Hunt guards LCHS's
Hadley Hargrove in the Lady Rocket win.

“It was probably the best first half we’ve played in a while, trying to lock people down defensively and create offense with our defense,” coach Shannon Hodge said.

Crittenden led by four after one period, but blew the socks off the Lady Cardinals in the second quarter, fueled by a spate of three-pointers from freshmen Anna Boone and Elliot Evans. Senior Taylor Guess was scoring at will, too, and the Lady Rockets built a 39-point lead before posting a 61-30 victory.

Livingston scored only nine points in the first half (they’d scored just seven in the second half when the teams played one another a week earlier in the All A Class Second Region title game). Crittenden’s defense was something to behold indeed. The Rocket girls didn’t put too much pressure on the ball until it crossed half court, but then poured the coal to it. Anna Boone was swatting shots and teammates were regularly turning over LCHS in the front court.

Guess scored a game-high 25 points and moved to within about two dozen points of becoming the Fifth District’s career scoring leader. The Lady Rockets improved to 5-0 in league play and 15-3 overall. 

Livingston fell to 8-11 overall and 2-2 in league play. Sophomore Victoria Joiner scored 14 points, virtually half of her team’s total. She and classmate Emersyn Ramage were honored following the game for each reaching 500 rebounds in their careers.

Crittenden County 9 37  55  61
Livingston Central 5 9  19 30
CRITTENDEN – Guess 25, N.Boone 6, A.Boone 13, Evans 8, Hatfield 5, Hunt 4, McDaniel, Federico, Rushing, Holeman, Stewart, Munday, Hodge. FG 25. 3-pointers 6 (N.Boone 2, A.Boone 3, Evans). FT 5-9.
LIVINGSTON – Jennings 2, Downey 6, A.Leahy 8, Joiner 14, Davidson, T.Leahy, Holman, Ramage. FG 11. 3-pointers 1 (Joiner). FT 7-19.

ROCKETS BURN UP NETS

SMITHLAND, Ky.  – So far, first-year Rocket basketball coach DJ Pigg has done about all he could do, and perhaps more than some might have expected at this point in the season. 

Rocket freshman Bryson Walker came off the
bench to score 21. Here he guards Caridnal
Jude Ferrell in the second half.

Crittenden County beat Livingston Central 84-52 to improve to 4-1 in Fifth District play, locking up second place. It’s about as high as any reasonable observer might have hoped for CCHS. Only Lyon County has bested the Rockets in league play, and Crittenden has one more crack at them. Albeit a long shot. 

Junior Travis Champion was lights out against the Cardinals, scoring 20 points in the first half – 14 in the second quarter when the Rockets made their move. Jumpers, layups and long-range bombs were on tap as Champion led a 16-4 run over the last five minutes of the first half. During the spurt, Morgeson and Walker also drained a couple of threes.

CCHS reeled off another 11-0 scoring spurt in the third period, taking a 25-point lead and driving driving a nail in Livingston’s coffin. The Cardinals struggled to get much of anything going offensively other than during a short two-minute spurt in the second quarter.

Crittenden improves to 9-10 overall and Livingston falls to 5-13. The Cardinals are winless in the district and have lost 10 straight times to the Rockets dating back to 2019.

Crittenden County 17 40 63 84
Livingston County 14 26 37 52
CRITTENDEN - Morgeson 26, Champion 22, Walker 21, Hatfield 8, Suddoth, Sharp 3, Keller 1, Gobin, Guess, Travis, Poindexter, Counts 1. FG 25 3-pointers 12 (Morgeson 5, Champion 2, Walker 2, Hatfield 2, Sharp) FT 22-31.
LIVINGSTON - Render 3, Hargrove, Orr 8, Ferrell 8, Wring 15, Zaim 6, Davidson 6, Walton 3, Myers, Turrey 5. FG 16 3-pointers 5 (Orr 2, Wring 2, Davidson) FT 15-19