OWENSBORO, Ky. – A week to the day earlier, Elliot Evans was carried off the floor on the shoulders of two teammates after a significant ankle sprain in a district game at Livingston Central. In the state tournament at Owensboro Friday, she certainly felt the entire weight of Rocket Nation on her own shoulders when the junior launched a three-pointer from the corner with 19 seconds left in overtime and her team trailing by two.
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| Anna Boone drives on Whitefield's top player Noel Smith |
The seven-day journey that saw Evans’ ankle go from a swollen mass to successfully lifting a game-clinching trey was littered with doubt yet bolstered by confident faith.
“I knew I was going to be able to play in the state tournament as soon as I sprained my ankle,” she said following Friday’s win. “There was no way I was going to come to Owensboro and not be on the court.”
Still, the journey was challenging. Regular intervals of icing and other care were necessary to promote healing, then she sliced open her heel on a chair in the hotel room the night before their quarterfinal appearance.
“There was blood gushing from it,” said assistant coach Bristyn Prowell, who was facilitating an icing session when it happened on the sharp corner of a chair.
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| Jordyn Hodge plays defense |
Taped and bandaged from heel to toe, she scored only six points in the win over Whitefield Academy (13-4) – a three in the first half and another just before they could have been packing up for home.
Crittenden County had three turnovers in the final minute of regulation that snuffed out an earlier opportunity to put the Lady Wildcats away. Led by University of the Cumberlands commit Noel Smith’s 30 points (64 percent of her team’s offense), Whitefield Academy didn’t go quietly.
“I was actually happy we went into overtime. Overtime was like a reset. We were both at 43. I really love it when we look into the crowd and see Rocket Nation up there cheering us on,” Evans said.
But in OT, Smith scored the first four points and rarely gave up the ball until she fouled out, whistled for a moving screen with a minute to go and her team up by two.
Seconds later, Anna Boone caught a pass on the wing and passed to Evans, open in the left corner in front of her own bench. She drained the three.
“(Whitefield) plays a little different defense than we usually see,” said Lady Rocket coach Shannon Hodge. “They were really keying on Anna wherever she was on the floor. Then we got a little hesitant to shoot the ball from outside because we hadn’t shot it as well since we’ve been up here.”
Indeed, Crittenden County has relied heavily on its pesky defense to carry the load as the typically accurate long-range shooters have made just 5-of-18 over two games in the state tournament. Evans was 1-for-6 before hitting the crucial shot in the waning moments of the quarterfinal win. She had missed badly on an air ball three that could have made a big difference at the time as the clock was expiring in regulation. On the season, Evans is a 33% shooter from behind the arc.
“I was really proud of Elliot,” Hodge said. “But first I was proud of Georgia (Holeman) shot-faking and taking that drive, being confident enough to take it to the rim and get in there and score.”
It was Holeman’s bucket with 1:35 in OT that drew Crittenden to within two, setting up the closing heroics.
For Crittenden County, it’s the team’s 10th appearance in the small-school state tournament, the third in a row and fourth in five years. Many of the juniors who play key roles on this year’s squad have been on the big stage many times, but they were not among the 2021 Crittenden County crew that lost to Bethlehem 80-54 the last time CCHS was in the Classic’s semifinals.
Now, the Lady Rockets (16-3) will move through the valley of giants, taking on Danville Christian (13-5), which features mighty inside players, including 6-foot-5 Louisville commit Grace Mbugua from Kenya. The game tips off at 10:30 a.m., Saturday and will broadcast live on video and audio at allaclassic.org. The other semifinal starts at 9 a.m., with Bethlehem (15-1) facing Bishop Brossart (14-4).
Whitefield Academy 10 25 36 43 47
Crittenden County 12 27 37 43 49
WHITEFIELD – Smith 30, Braffet 8, Ring 9, Franz, Turner, Wheatley, Gillam. 3-pointers 2 (Braffet, Ring). FT 5-10.
CRITTENDEN – Boone 12, Hodge 11, Federico 7, Evans 6, Rushing 2, Stewart 9, Holeman 2, Berry. FG: 18. 3 pointers 3 (Evans 2, Hodge). FT 16-19.
Other Quarterfinal Scores
Bethlehem 53, Owensboro Catholic 50
Bishop Brossart 74, Lexington Christian 46
Danville Christian 64, Metcalfe County 52
Crittenden vs Whitefield Full Box Score
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