"Fed's" Final Flurry Leads CCHS to District Title Match

Andrea Federico plays tight defense on Livingston's
Victoria Joiner during Monday's playoff win.

EDDYVILLE, Ky. – Sophomore forward Andrea Federico exchanged some early frustrations for a bit of heavy lifting down the stretch as Crittenden County beat Livingston Central 52-44 in the Fifth District Tournament opener at Lyon County.

Federico, who had been sidelined for about two weeks under concession protocol, hadn’t scored a point until she reeled off three straight buckets to crack open a tie game and break Livingston’s back.

“I’m glad I hit them at the end because I didn’t hit anything at the beginning,” she said.

With just over three minutes to play, Federico made a 12 foot jumper. During her scoring run, she also benefited from a couple of nice assists that found her free on the block.

 “I just slowed it down in my head and didn’t rush my shot,” she said. “My outside shot wasn’t going in so I tried to get close to the rim. I didn’t want our season to end, especially since this was my first game back since Hopkins Central.”

Neither team led by more than six points in the playoff opener, and it was much closer than that the entire second half until Federico put some distance between her team and the persistent Livingston girls. 

“She came up big, had a couple of rebounds and hit some big shots,” CCHS coach Shannon Hodge said about “Fed’s” effort in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore Anna Boone led CCHS with 20 points while Elliot Evans and Jordyn Hodge had 13 apiece. Federico scored the team’s other half dozen.

The victory – over a Livingston team that had defeated Crittenden in overtime way back in December – propels CCHS into Thursday's fourth encounter this season with Lyon County. This one will be on the Lady Lyons’ home hardwood with a district championship in the balance. CCHS has beaten Lyon twice this year. The only loss to them came on the Lyons’ home floor a few weeks ago. CCHS has defeated Lyon in a regular-season matchup at Crittenden and in the All A Classic Second Region championship game on a neutral floor at Princeton. 

The Lady Rockets are 19-12 on the season while Livingston’s season came to a close at 13-11.

Lyon beat Trigg County 80-31 in the other Fifth District opener on Monday. The district title game will be played at 6pm Thursday. Both Crittenden and Lyon will advance to the Second Region Tournament next week at Trigg County.

CCHS has won the last two Fifth District crowns and could claim an unprecedented third straight this week. The Lady Rockets have won seven district titles in school history, half of them in the past seven seasons.

Livingston Central 11 22 39 44
Crittenden County 14 24 38 52
LYON – A.Leahy 13, Joiner 4, Downey 9, J.Leahy 14, Ramage 4. FG 17. 3-pointers 5 (J.Leahy 4, Downey). FT 5-8.
CRITTENDEN – Boone 20, Evans 13, Hodge 13, Federico 6, Rushing, Holeman, Stewart. FG 18. 3-pointers 8 (Hodge 4, Evans 2, Boone 2). FT 8-14.