A scoring drought of more than eleven minutes is tough to overcome anytime, much less in the championship game of the Girls 2nd Region tournament. That is exactly what happened to the Christian County Lady Colonels, as an 11-10 first quarter deficit turned into 23-10 at the half, and they never recovered falling to Webster County Saturday evening in Dixon.
It took a couple of minutes for the teams to shake off the butterflies and get things into gear offensively, but it was not for a lack of effort. Aaliyah Hampton broke the ice first for Christian County with a three. Webster County came right down the court and tied the game on a three from Marissa Austin. There was one play during the early going where a ball was loose on the floor, and multiple players hit the deck attempting to get the ball. When the whistle finally blew, the crowd roared its approval, and you could almost feel the old gym in Dixon shake.
Webster County got on an 8-3 spurt to take the lead at 11-6. However, Christian County scored the last four points of the first quarter to cut the lead to 11-10 after the first quarter. Both teams played solid tight defense in the opening quarter, with several solid defensive plays on each end.
The intensity exhibited from the opening tip did not wane any as the 2nd quarter got underway. Upset about no over the back call on a rebound with 6:32 to go in the half, Christian County center Trinitee Jackson protested a little too vocally and was assessed a technical foul. At that point, with the foul being her second personal, Christian County coach Kiki Radford elected to take Jackson out of the lineup for the remainder of the half.
With Jackson out, and the Lady Colonels cold from the outside, the Lady Trojans were able to get the tempo to their liking and clamp down in their half court defense. Webster County held Christian County scoreless in the period and extended their lead to 23-10 at the break.
Christian County racheted up the defense in the 3rd quarter in an attempt to get back in the game. When Trinitee Jackson scored on a three point play with 6:05 to go in the 3rd, it ended a scoring drought of more than eleven minutes for Christian County.
The Lady Colonels could get no closer than nine points in the quarter and ended up trailing 33-22 after the third.
As Webster County began to spread the court in the 4th quarter, Christian County began to trap all over the court. However, the Lady Colonels cold shooting continued and when the defense gambled and did not get the steal, the Lady Trojans were able to get some easy backdoor layups. Trailing 37-24, Christian County scored five in a row to get within 8 at 37-29, but Webster County was able to hold the Lady Colonels off to pick up the win.
Webster County was led by Karlie Keeney with 12. Jessica Winders added 10 for the Lady Trojans.
Aaliyah Hampton topped the scoring column for Christian County with 10 points. Trinitee Jackson had 9, and Laderia Gold scored 8.
The win ends three years of frustration for Webster County, who had lost each of the past three years to Henderson County in the regional final. The Lady Trojans advance on to the Girls Sweet 16 with a record of 28-6.
Christian County ends their season with a mark of 23-8.
