Lady Rocket run ends in state semifinal

OWENSBORO, Ky. – High on emotion from a magic carpet ride into the semifinal round of the All A Classic State Tournament, the Lady Rockets had their souls seared by hot iron from a double-barreled shotgun at Owensboro Saturday morning, losing 67-35 to Danville Christian Academy.

The Lady Warriors' double-edged sword cut deep, striking both from downtown and at the rim as DCA’s height, might and lights-out shooting pummeled Crittenden County, which at times appeared almost defenseless.

Anna Boone and Bristyn Rushing work
against UofL signee Grace Mougu.

Typically a reliable shooting team, Crittenden normally makes 43% from the floor, but during the tournament, they were more than double-digits worse, and at times – often at critical junctures – their shooting plummeted to Death Valley-like depths. Over three games in the state tournament, Crittenden shot 31% from the field. In their semifinal loss, that figure was 27%, while DCA defied their own common 43% accuracy by making right at half of every shot launched.

With 6-foot-5 center Grace Mougua, a Kenyan senior signed to play at Louisville, and another frontliner about six feet tall, DCA was expected to be formidable in the paint, but when they got hotter than Hades from behind the arc, Crittenden wilted from the heat.

The Lady Rockets fell behind by 22 by the half as threes rained from long range and the giants dominated inside. Then a 10-0 run from the Warrior girls out of the halftime break provided a final death blow. The Lady Rockets were officially clocked at 1:21 in the third period when they fell behind by 35, triggering the mercy rule.

“Danville Christian is a really good team. They shot the ball so well from the outside. Then they had not just one, but two towering presences inside that were difficult to handle as well,” said Lady Rocket skipper Shannon Hodge, who guided her team to a second semifinal appearance in 10 trips to the All A Classic since 1998. “They couldn’t have shot much better, I don’t think.”

Andrea Federico wants the ball on the block

DCA connected on 80 percent of their threes in the first period and although that rate didn’t hold, the Lady Warriors finished with 13 treys on just 22 attempts. That barrage with the height advantage inside, where Mougua had 14 points and 13 rebounds, was unbearable.

“I thought we had some opportunities early in transition, but we missed a few shots,” Hodge said, which prevented Crittenden from rolling out its typically problematic full-court defense.

Junior guard Elliot Evans, whose three-pointer helped Crittenden beat Whitefield Christian in the quarterfinals, led the way against Danville Christian with a dozen points – the only double-figure scoring in the semifinal game for Crittenden. CCHS was outrebounded 37-28 and DCA put three players in double-figure scoring.

Lady Rocket junior Anna Boone and freshman Jordyn Hodge were selected for the all-tournament team.

While eight public schools were represented in the 16-team tournament, the Lady Rockets (16-4) were the only one that survived to play in the final four. DCA (14-5) will face Bethlehem (16-1) in Sunday’s championship at noon.

Crittenden County 12 18 24 35
Danville Christian 24 42 61 67
CRITTENDEN – Boone 8, Hodge, Evans 12, Federico 6, Rushing 3, Stewart 4, Holeman, Champion 2, Berry, Grau, Rich, Matthews. FG 13-47. 3-pointers 1-6 (Evans). FT 8-12. Rebounds 28 (Boone 7). 
DCA – Matz 21, Meyer 9, Quisenberry 12, Mbugua 14, Blackford 5, Adams 3, Gjoci 3, Bradshaw, Boyd, Lofton. FG 23-47. 3-pointers 13-22 (Metz 7, Meyer 3, Quisenberry, Blackford, Cjoci). FT 8-13. Rebounds 37 (Mbugua 13). 

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