Lady Rockets eliminated from regional tournament

CADIZ, Ky. – One victory shy of a coveted threshold, Crittenden County just missed its fifth 20-win season in coach Shannon Hodge’s 31 years as the Lady Rocket skipper, losing 72-44 to Henderson County Monday in the opening round of the Second Region Tournament.

Elliot Evans guards a Henderson player
during Monday's regional opener.

Sophomore Anna Boone, the Fifth District Player of the Year, scored 21 points against the Lady Colonels, moving up to No. 7 on the Lady Rocket career scoring list with 1,131 points, just two shy of being in the sixth spot.

Crittenden kept the game close for a half. With under two minutes to play in the second period, the Lady Rockets trailed Henderson (23-7) by just three. However, two quick threes gave the Colonel women a nine-point halftime cushion. They expanded it quickly in the third and led by 16 by the start of the final quarter.

Henderson was more physical and beat CCHS to the basket often, prompting Crittenden to deploy a zone defense. Henderson had an answer. It was able to get some back door cuts and finished with seven three-pointers.

For Crittenden, it brought their season to a close against the same team that defeated the Rocket girls in the regional championship a year earlier.

Henderson advances to play Christian County in a regional semifinal Friday. Christian defeated Madisonville 56-51 in the other opening-round game Monday at Trigg County's gym.

Crittenden County 12 20 34 44
Henderson County 17 29 50 72
CRITTENDEN – Boone 21, Evans 6, Hodge 9, Federico 2, Rushing 4, Champion 2, Holeman, Stewart, Munday, Walker. FG 16. 3-pointers 1 (Boone). FT 7-9.
HENDERSON – Gish 7, Gardner 4, Kemp 4, Rideout 16, Cansler 9, Green 16, Gibson 16, Stanley, Burnett, Locher, Estabrook, Hall. FG 28. 3-pointers 7. FT 9-13.

Lady Rockets draw Henderson in regional tourney

Lady Rockets - 5th District Runner-Up

The Lady Rockets will play Henderson County in the first game Monday of the 2nd Region Tournament. Tipoff is at 6 p.m., at Trigg County High School.

Other tournament pairings are:
Monday 7:30 p.m. - Madisonville North Hopkins v. Christian County

Tuesday 6 p.m. - Hopkinsville v. Union County

Tuesday 7:30 p.m. - Lyon County v. Hopkins County Central

Guess is Mid South Freshman of Year

Crittenden County’s Taylor Guess has been named 2024 Mid-South Conference Women's Basketball Freshman of the Year. The freshman at Lindsey Wilson becomes the program's fifth player all-time to be tabbed the conference's top freshman.

"We are extremely proud of Taylor and how much she has grown and improved over the course of the season," expressed head coach John B. Wethington. "She and our entire freshman class represent the future of Lindsey Wilson women's basketball, and this is an incredible honor for her and the program."

Guess appeared in all 12 of the Blue Raiders' conference games during the regular season. She scored in double-figures five times, including back-to-back 19-point performance against Bethel (Tenn.) and Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) in February. Her conference scoring average was 8.9 points per game. She also added a 34-for-42 effort from the charity stripe and contributed the team's second-most rebounds, along with 13 assists, 8 steals and 4 blocks.

On the season, Guess has scored 9.4 points an outing and is ranked second overall on the team for total blocks and rebounds.

Guess, who graduated from CCHS in 2023, is the Lady Rickets' all-time scoring leader.

She and her Blue Raider teammates open their postseason at 2:30 p.m. today in the Mid-South Conference tournament quarterfinals in Bowling Green.

Three-peat escapes Lady Rockets at Lyon

Bristyn Rushing, who tied her personal
scoring record, pulls down a rebound.

EDDYVILLE, Ky. – As long as grasses grow and rivers flow, beating Lyon County at Eddyville in girls’ basketball is going to be tougher than chewing down the edge of a bone.

Crittenden County’s second-quarter 15-point lead wasn’t even enough to hold the fort as the Lady Lyons beat Crittenden County 77-74 in the Fifth District Tournament championship Thursday, spoiling the Rocket girls’ hopes of trimming the district nets three years in a row. 

It would have been an unprecedented post-season run for the CCHS – which had won the last two district tournaments – but Lyon was on point in the last half, overcoming a deficit that could have wilted most opponents.

Home-court advantage came complete with a couple of scoreboard malfunctions, flashing white lights because someone pulled the gym’s fire alarm at one point and then there was another brief fourth-quarter delay to clean popcorn off of the floor.

None of it rattled the home-standing Lyons. 

Trailing by a point with just over a minute to go, Crittenden turned the ball over on a five-second call trying to inbounds the ball at midcourt. From there, Lyon had an opportunity to run some valuable time off the clock before Elliot Evans gave up her fifth foul to stop the timer, sending Lyon guard Piper Cotham to the line with 52 seconds left. Cotham sank both foul shots then dropped in a couple more seconds later after CCHS turned the ball over on a jump ball in front court, and fouled the Lyon point guard again. 

Crittenden’s Anna Boone hit a three from the top of the key with 14 seconds to go, pulling her team to within one again, 75-74, which kept the crowd engaged for a time. However, Cotham’s last two free throws with two seconds left sealed the deal.

District Tournament Runner-up

Both teams will advance to next week’s regional tournament. The draw will be later this week to set the pairings for next week’s tournament, which is at Trigg County.

Crittenden (19-13) will see a first-place district winner in the regional while Lyon (21-9) will get a first-round opponent that finished runner-up in another district. District winners across the region are Lyon, Henderson, Madisonville and Christian County. Crittenden will play one of those teams and Lyon will face either Hopkins Central, Hopkinsville or Union County.

Boone, who scored 27 in the championship game, was chosen Fifth District Player of the Year and teammates Jordyn Hodge and Evans were named to the all-district team.

Crittenden forward Andrea Federico scored a career-high 16 points and center Bristyn Rushing tied her career best with 14, but it still wasn’t enough to help CCHS overcome Lyon’s home-court edge.

Crittenden 25 47 59 74
Lyon County 20 44 62 77
CRITTENDEN – Boone 27, Evans 7, Hodge 8, Federico 16, Rushing 14, Stewart 2, Holeman. FG 29. 3-pointers 8 (Boone 4, Evans, Hodge, Federico 2). FT 8-12.
LYON – Taylor 15, Cotham 28, Corsey 4, Wynn 12, Akridge 1, Holland 9, Perry 8. FG 27. 3-pointers 10 (Cotham 4, Wynn 4, Holland). FT 13-17.

Rocket season ends against mighty Lyons

First-year Rocket head coach Matt Fraliex goes
over strategy during a timeout Tuesday at Lyon.

One of the best Fifth District teams in basketball history had little trouble ending one of Crittenden County’s most difficult seasons on Tuesday.

Ranked among the state’s top five teams all season long, Lyon County dispatched the Rockets 88-44 on their home floor. 

For Crittenden, an enormous underdog, it signaled the end to a frustrating season filled with injuries that left insurmountable challenges for a winning season.

Crittenden finished with three victories in 28 games. 

Over the past five or six years, Lyon has held an incredible advantage over the entire Fifth District with perhaps its best team in history, led by UK commit Travis Perry and two other Division I basketball recruits – Jack Reddick and Brady Shoulders. Reddick has offers from The Citadel and Florida Gulf Coast. Shoulders is headed to UT-Martin.

Lyon has beaten the Rockets in 24 of the last 26 encounters, and 13 in a row dating back to 2020 when Crittenden won by surprising Lyon with incredible shooting at Rocket Arena. 

Crittenden’s historic troubles in dealing with their neighbors to the south are well documented, but in the last few years Lyon has dominated much of the region during its celebrated run as Perry has become Kentucky’s career scoring leader.

For first-year head coach Matt Fraliex, the playoff loss was certainly not a surprise, and as he’s done all throughout his inaugural campaign, the coach has remained positive and encouraging despite some difficult odds. When senior Travis Champion – who was on a trajectory to become CCHS’s all-time leading scorer – tore his ACL in the season’s second game, it left an unfillable void in the Rocket psyche, and its scorebook. What Fraliex did find was the character of his team that stayed together, and sophomore Bryson Walker emerged as the Rocket star of now. His talents were clear before having to take a leadership role this season, but in the absence of another consistent offensive weapon, Walker stepped up with a 19-point scoring average over the course of the season.

Crittenden Co. 3 20 35 44
Lyon County       25 48 76 88
CRITTENDEN – Belcher 2, Walker 13, Hatfield 5, Sharp 5, Keller 13, Reddick 6, Travis, Poindexter. FG 15. 3-pointers 3 (Walker 2, Sharp). FT 11-25.
LYON – Perryman 31, Shoulders 7, Reddick 11, Kirk 8, Breedlove 8, DeFew 2, Ca.Collins 7, Crawford 5, Co.Collins 6, Burchett, Herring, Ramey, Je.Reddick, Phillips 3, Prow. FG 33. 3-pointers 16. (Perry 9, Reddick, Kirk, Ca.Collins, Crawford, Co.Collins 2, Phillips). FT 6-9

"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.

Rockets close out regular season with loss

BARDWELL, Ky. – Although the Rocket basketball team’s struggles continued as it closed out the regular season on the road Friday, sophomore Bryson Walker continued to put up big numbers. 

In an 81-51 loss at Carlisle County, Walker dropped 36 points, including seven three-pointers.

Only four other players scored for CCHS as the team finished 3-24 on the season. Carlisle closed out at 19-10. 

Walker has averaged almost 19 points a game this season.

For the Rockets, hampered by injuries, it was a season full of challenges, particularly the early loss of leading scorer Travis Champion to a knee injury. 

CCHS’s three wins are the fewest in a season since the team was 3-22 in 1992-93. Since consolidation in 1957, Crittenden has turned in eight seasons with three or fewer wins, including an 0-24 campaign in 1990-91.

Crittenden Co. 17 28 35 51
Carlisle County 20 39 52 81
CRITTENDEN – Walker 36, Belcher 1, Hatfield 6, Sharp 5, Keller 3, LaRue, Reddick, Travis, Poindexter, Rhodes. FG 15. 3-pointers 9 (Walker 7, Sharp, Hatfield). FT 18-24.
CARLISLE – Williams 7, Burgess 2, Bowles 6, Burnett 17, Perez, Bruer 3, Arnold 11, Grogan 16, King 2, J.Willams 2, Garrett 6, Richard 8, McBride 1. FG 24. 3-pointers 8. FT 21-27.