Girls' holiday tournament in Orlando

Lady Rocket Holiday

Tournament statistics

The varsity and junior varsity teams traveled to Orlando during the winter break and competed in a tournament.

Here are the statistics:

Varsity

Dec. 28

Parkview, PA 52, Crittenden Co. 39

Parkview 8 26 36 52

Crittenden Co. 10 24 37 39

Scoring: Jessi Hodge, 21, Laken Tabor 9, Whitney Johnson 5, Jenna Franklin 2, Bailey Brown 2. 3 pointers 5 (Hodge 2, Tabor 3)

Dec. 29

Merion Mercy, PA 58, Crittenden Co. 43

Merion Mercy 17 36 45 58

Crittenden Co. 9 24 39 43

Scoring: Jessi Hodge 15, Whitney Johnson 11, Laken Tabor 6, Hannah Brantley 5, Summer Courtney 4, Jenna Franklin 2. 3 pointers 4 (Tabor 2, Hodge 1, Johnson 1)

December 30

Crittenden Co. 63, Foundation Academy, FL 32

Crittenden Co. 17 33 46 63

Foundation Academy 6 15 25 32

Scoring: Jessi Hodge 20, Laken Tabor 15, Whitney Johnson 14, Summer Courtney 8, Tiffany Graham 4, Jenna Franklin 1, Randa Leidecker 1. 3 pointers 4 (Hodge 2, Tabor 1, Johnson 1)

JV

Dec. 28

Ambridge, PA 67, Crittenden Co. 31

Ambridge 16 33 51 67

Crittenden Co. 10 17 24 31

Scoring: Bailey Brown 9, Jenna Franklin 6, Randa Leidecker 6, Megan Roberts 4, Maggie Collins 4, Kaitlyn Binkley 2. 3 pointers 1 (Randa Leidecker)

Dec. 29

Wayne Co. Tenn. 53, Crittenden Co. 43

Wayne Co. 10 27 40 52

Crittenden Co. 11 19 32 43

Scoring: Jenna Franklin 14, Randa Leidecker 12, Bailey Brown 8, Megan Roberts 5, Maggie Collins 4. 3 pointers 2 (Leidecker 1, Brown 1)

Dec. 30

Crittenden Co. 36, Abingdon, VA 35

Crittenden Co. 10 18 26 36

Abingdon 5 18 30 35

Scoring: Bailey Brown 13, Jenna Franklin 10, Randa Leidecker 5, Megan Roberts 4, Kaitlyn Binkley 2, Maggie Collins 2. 3 pointers 1 (Leidecker)

Turnovers, missed free throws cost Ladies the game

Hopkinsville 49, Crittenden 46

Crittenden 11 27 33 49

Hopkinsville 11 17 25 46

Crittenden - Brantley 18, Hodge 9, Tabor 9, Courtney 6, Graham 2, Brown 1, Johnson 1, Franklin. FG. 17. 3-pointers none. FT. 12-20. Fouls 18.

Hopkinsville - Soldo 20, Williams 7, Nolen 6, Miller 8, Kemp 4, Cole 4. FG. 17. 3-pointers 1 (Miller). FT. 12-20. Fouls 18.

BY CHRIS HARDESTY

PRESS SPORTS WRITER

The Lady Rockets were doomed by 22 turnovers and a very poor 12-of-20 showing at the charity stripe Tuesday at Hopkinsville and dropped the contest 49-46.

With the Lady Tigers playing a triangle-and-two defense to try and limit Crittenden guards Laken Tabor and Jessi Hodge, the visitors struggled to get any consistent offense throughout the game.

Trailing 33-25 entering the fourth quarter, Crittenden (2-3) picked a bad time to go cold from the free throw line. They missed eight free throws in the last stanza which was a huge obstacle in preventing them from making a comeback.

“We just didn’t get going for any length of time,” Lady Rocket coach Shannon Hodge said after the loss.

Long range shooting was also a problem for the Lady Rockets as they were 0-of-10 from the three-point territory in a three point defeat.

One bright spot in Tuesday’s defeat was the way Crittenden went to the boards outrebounding the hosts 46-29.

Whitney Johnson recorded 11 rebounds followed closely behind by Summer Courtney and Laken Tabor with nine apiece.

The Lady Rockets’ three losses have come by an average of only 4.3 points per game as their biggest margin of defeat has been by six points.

Hodge wants her team to realize that one play on either end of the court can spell the difference in winning and losing.

“The expectations have to start in practice,” she said.

Hodge continues to be pleased with the performance of reserve senior center Tiffany Graham, who recorded two points and a pair of rebounds in Tuesday’s loss.

“Tiffany has given us some valuable minutes this year,” she said.

Technical fouls, turnover lead to Rocket defeat

Lyon 55, Crittenden 42

Crittenden 12 16 29 42

Lyon 10 24 31 55

Crittenden - Oliver 16, Clark 5, Pluskota 2, Pierce 7, Porter 8, Highfil 2, Nielsen 2, Gray, Scott, Belt. FG. 10. 3-pointers 5 (Oliver 3, Pierce, Porter). FT. 7-13. Fouls 24.

Lyon - Ringstaff 15, Perdue 12, Houk 10, Sutton 5, Taylor 2, Gray 6, Crady 2, Polk 3, Williams. FG. 15. 3-pointers 3 (Ringstaff 2, Polk). FT. 16-27. Fouls 16.

BY CHRIS HARDESTY

PRESS SPORTS WRITER

In a sloppy game, which featured a combined 45 turnovers and three technical fouls, the Rockets let too many opportunities get away Tuesday at Eddyville and dropped a 55-42 decision to Fifth District foe Lyon County.

Rocket junior guard Casey Oliver scored seven first quarter points in helping his team jump out to a 12-6 lead with 1:38 left in the opening stanza.

The Lyon defense limited Crittenden (1-4, 0-2) to one field goal in the second quarter taking a 24-16 lead into the dressing room.

The hosts’ fullcourt and three-quarter-court pressure defense forced the Rockets into some of their 31 turnovers.

Lyon reserve guard Chris Ringstaff helped fuel the Lyons rally in the second quarter as his first trey gave his team its initial lead. He finished the game with 15, but 12 of those came in the opening half.

The second half is when the whistles started blowing and technical fouls began being called.

Leading 26-18 with 6:16 remaining in the third quarter, Lyon coach Jeff Embrey was called for a technical during a dead ball situation.

The shocking thing was that the Lyon skipper did not appear to lose his temper and seemed to do nothing to warrant one.

However, Crittenden began to seize a bit of momentum slicing the lead to 26-24 less than 1:30 later. Lyon guard Taylor Gray was called for another one at the 4:39 mark of the third stanza.

Rocket senior guard Alec Pierce knotted the game at 32-all with 7:15 left in the game.

They eventually took their first lead since early in the second quarter going up 34-32 less than 1:00 later.

But the Lyons, who only made three treys for the game, took the lead for good on their last one going up 35-34 with about 5:30 left to play.

Trailing 46—39 with 1:44 to go but still very much in the contest, Rocket forward Dylan Clark was called for a technical foul.

Battling the team, who many consider to be the favorite in the Fifth District race, to such a hard-fought game, but coming up short was obviously disappointing to Hayes.

“We had an opportunity tonight to steal one and we didn’t do it,” he said.

Hayes lamented the 31 miscues and knows that can’t continue if they want to start winning. In the last two contests, Crittenden has committed 58 turnovers.

“Its just lazy passes,” said Hayes.

Despite not being a thing of beauty, Embrey was glad to escape with a district win against the pesky Rockets.

“We won, but we sure didn’t look good doing it,” he said.

Crittenden will not have to wait long for a rematch, as they face the Lyons at the Hopkins County Christmas Tournament.

Hayes is impressed with Fifth District archrival Livingston Central who will come to tomorrow night to renew the border rivalry.

“They play extremely hard. It won’t be an easy game,” he said.

Tabor leads team to win over Lyon

Crittenden 71, Lyon 40

Crittenden 11 22 45 54

Lyon 4 15 24 40

Crittenden - Tabor 14, Hodge 13, Johnson 9, Courtney 6, Brown 4, Graham 2, Brantley 6, Franklin. FG. 19. 3-pointers 3 (Tabor 3). FT. 7-14. Fouls 12.

Lyon - West 13, Riggs 11, Rhodes 9, White 2, Doom 3, Snow 2, McGill, Smier. FG. 12. 3-pointers 4 (West 3, Riggs). FT. 4-7. Fouls 16.

BY CHRIS HARDESTY

PRESS SPORTS WRITER

Lady Rocket junior guard Laken Tabor had a fantastic outing last Friday at Lyon County recording a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds helping her team gain a 54-40 victory. With the win, Crittenden improved to 2-0 in Fifth District play.

After the contest was knotted at 4-all in the early going, the Lady Rockets ran off seven unanswered points to take an 11-4 advantage capped off by a short jumper from Lady Rocket point guard Jessi Hodge with 1.9 seconds left in the opening quarter.

In the second half Tabor went 3-for-5 from long range to help her team extend the lead to double digits.

Tabor made all of her team’s treys as she recorded her first double-double as a Lady Rocket.

Leading 26-17 with about 6:00 remaining in the third quarter, the Lady Rockets ran off 12 unanswered points to take a commanding 21-point lead.

Displeased with how her team was not picking up the Lyon shooters on the perimeter, Lady Rocket coach Shannon Hodge called a timeout with 5:13 left to play.

“They were all capable of shooting the ball. Our failure to close out on them was a breakdown in intensity,” she said.

Hodge praised the play of Tabor and thought her fine performance was key in the triumph.

“Her shots gave us a big boost and defensively she gave us a spark,” Hodge said.

Lady Rocket forward Whitney Johnson barely missed a double-double of her own scoring nine points and grabbing 10 rebounds in the league win.

One area Hodge continues to be disappointed in is her team’s assist-to-turnover ratio. They had 14 assists compared to 18 turnovers against Lyon but still managed to win the game.

For the season, Crittenden has handed out 50 assists but committed 64 turnovers.

With a victory over the Lady Cardinals, Crittenden will keep sole possession of first place with a 3-0 mark, However, if the Lady Cardinals defeat Crittenden and Lyon upends Trigg the same night, there will be a three-way tie for first place in district play.

“Its always a war. You can throw records out the window when Crittenden and Livingston get together,” said the Lady Rocket skipper.

Lady Rockets fought had against Caldwell

Caldwell 54, Crittenden 49

Caldwell 14 28 39 54

Crittenden 14 25 43 49

Caldwell - Sindelar 16, Meeks 12, Jackson 11, Pepper 10, Yates 5, Stone. FG. 19. 3-pointers 1 (Jackson). FT. 13-25. Fouls 8

Crittenden - Tabor 16, Hodge 15, Brown 6, Brantley 4, Graham 4, Franklin 4, Courtney, Johnson, Leidecker. FG. 13. 3-pointers 6 (Hodge 2, Tabor 2, Brown 2). FT. 5-8. Fouls 21.

BY CHRIS HARDESTY

PRESS SPORTS WRITER

In a game which featured 11 ties and leads that rarely grew larger than five for either team, the Lady Rockets lost a hard-fought 54-49 game to visiting Caldwell County last Thursday.

The Lady Tigers opened the game giving the Lady Rockets trouble with their fullcourt pressure defense, enabling them to jump out to an early 7-1 lead.

But a pair of Lady Tiger turnovers enabled Lady Rocket point guard Jessi Hodge to convert two layups in transition to whittle the lead to one.

Crittenden center Summer Courtney, who was limited to only 14:24 of action due to foul trouble, drew her second with 2:06 left in the opening stanza.

Whitney Johnson, who had three first half fouls, committed her fourth with 5:28 left in the third period. Her playing time was also severely hampered by foul trouble as she only saw 10:32 of action.

However, the Lady Rockets withstood those problems and were in the game the entire way thanks in part to their three-point shooting.

They went 6-of-15 from behind the arc enabling them to take a 43-39 lead into the fourth quarter. Two of those trifectas came from eighth grader Bailey Brown, which marked the first ones of her varsity career.

It was shots from two-point land and the free throw line which helped the visitors escape with a narrow win.

The Lady Tigers were a 20-of-36 from two-point land for 55.5 percent. The hosts shot 19-of-51 from that area for 39.2 percent.

Although Caldwell shot 13-of-25 at the charity stripe, they made more than Crittenden attempted- 5-of-8.

“We weren’t very aggressive,” Crittenden coach Shannon Hodge said, explaining her squad’s inability to get to the free throw line more frequently.

Nursing a slim lead heading into the fourth, the Lady Rockets were plagued by some crucial turnovers in the late going.

They converted 13 Lady Rocket turnovers into 18 points. Unfortunately, Crittenden was only able to score eight points off of the 15 Lady Tiger miscues.

“We didn’t handle things very well at the end,” Shannon Hodge said after the disappointing setback.

“Caldwell became a lot bigger when Summer and Whitney got in foul trouble,” she said.

Despite coming up a little short, she commended her team for giving great effort.

“It was a great game. I thought we played hard,” Hodge said.

Boys' performance disappointing in loss to Webster

Webster 41, Crittenden 22

Webster 13 20 34 41

Crittenden 5 9 16 22

Crittenden: Pluskota 8, Oliver 6, Gray 4, Pierce 2, Clark 1, Porter 1, Nielsen, Highfil. FG. 7. 3-pointers 1 (Gray). FT. 5-13. Fouls 18.

Webster: Scott 12, Little 6, Winstead 6, Hartig 5, Turner 4, Patmor 4, Tapp 4, Baker, Major, Douglas, Piesk. FG. 10. 3-pointers 3 (Scott 2, Hartig). FT. 12-20. Fouls 17.

BY CHRIS HARDESTY

PRESS SPORTS WRITER

The Rockets turned in a lacluster performance Tuesday night against visiting Webster County committing 27 turnovers en route to a 41-22 defeat.

After Crittenden (1-3) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead at the 6:04 mark of the first quarter, the Trojans ran off 13 unanswered points. The hapless Rockets did not score another field goal until :51 ticks left before intermission.

While the Rockets had major issues taking care of the ball, so did the Trojans as they committed 22 for the game.

Unfortunately, Crittenden could not convert many of them into points or they would have been in the game the whole way.

“We just played stupid,” Rocket first-year Coach Chad Hayes describing his team’s poor showing.

He was so disappointed that he said all five starting positions will be up for grabs as practice continues this week.

“We’ve got some stuff to figure out,” he said.

Another area that the Rockets need to get better at in a hurry is free throw shooting.

Through four games this season, they are an anemic 47 out of 93 at the charity stripe for a terrible 50.5 percent.

The Rocket skipper said he could live with a loss if an opponent is simply better than they are and executes better on both ends of the floor.

However, he did not think his team gave themselves a good chance of winning against the Trojans.

With nearly a week before they play again, he is anxious to see how his team responds in practice to the frustrating performance.

“Competitors come back from defeat and dont wallow in it,” Hayes said.

Trojan coach Bev Hart was unsure if he had ever had a team limit an opponent to 22 points in a varsity game.

“Its good to get the win. I thought we played real good defense,” he said.

Conversely, he was also displeased with how his squad failed to protect the ball leading to the 22 miscues.

Despite Tuesday’s results, Hart does not expect an easy game when Crittenden travels to Dixon next month for the rematch.

Coach earns first win of career, season with Rockets

Crittenden 46, McLean 38

McLean 12 21 24 38

Crittenden 2 20 28 46

Crittenden - Oliver 20, Clark 11, Porter 6, Pluskota 3, Pierce 3, Nielsen 3, Gray. FG. 12. 3-pointers 2 (Pierce, Oliver). FT. 16-33. Fouls 20

McLean - Rose 18, Free 7, Phillips 3, Humphrey 2, Ashton 2, Trogden 2, Shocklee 2, Ellis 2, Coakley, Hatfield. FG. 6. 3-pointers 2 (Rose 2). FT. 20-26. Fouls 28.

BY CHRIS HARDESTY

PRESS SPORTS WRITER

After digging themselves a 12-2 deficit at the end of the opening quarter last Saturday night against visiting McLean County, the Rockets kept their composure and came back to give first-year Crittenden skipper Chad Hayes his first victory at the helm winning 46-38.

The Cougars went 7 out of 9 at the charity stripe in the opening frame to take the 10-point lead, and it looked like the cold shooting Rockets (1-2) might possibly be in trouble.

But Rocket forward Dylan Clark helped get his team going into the second quarter, scoring nine of his 11 points to help trim the deficit to a slim 21-20 at intermission.

After making only one field goal in the first quarter, the Rocket defense turned the tide on the Cougars, limiting them to a mere one field goal in the third quarter. With the game knotted at 23-all about midway through the third stanza, Rocket guard Alec Pierce hit a trey to give his team a lead they would never surrender.

Crittenden guard Casey Oliver, who is averaging 16.6 points through three games, poured in 20 points to help his team get their first win on the young season.

But a terrible 16 out of 33 showing at the free throw line prevented the Rockets from winning the game in an easier fashion.

“We gutted one out tonight,” Hayes said after the game.

After falling behind by the 10-point margin after the opening 8:00, the Rocket coach was proud of the way his team fought, outscoring McLean 44-26 the rest of the way to claim the win.

He also pointed to Pierce’s trifecta in the third which put his team up for good as being a huge turning point in the contest.

“I thought he gave us some solid minutes,” Hayes said.

With the first win of his tenure in the books, the Rocket coach hopes his team realizes that it will require a maximum effort to achieve success.

When we stay within ourselves, we can be pretty darn good,” said the first year coach.