After missing the 7th District championship game in 2018, the Madisonville Lady Maroons are headed back to play for a district championship. It was not easy in the first half, but the Lady Maroons finally got by the Dawson Springs Lady Panthers, with a strong second half performance, 66-50 in the first game Tuesday night at Hopkins Central High School.
Early on it looked like the Lady Maroons might run away with the game. After falling behind 4-0, Madisonville ripped off 12 unanswered points to go up 12-4 with just over three minutes to go in the opening stanza. Kara Franklin scored eight points during the run for Madisonville. The Lady Panther then rallied to get back into the game. A 3-pointer by Denisha Randolph late in the quarter cut the lead to 17-13 after one.
Dawson Springs opened the second quarter on a 7-2 run. The second three of the night from Randolph put the Lady Panthers in front 20-19. The two teams went back and forth for most of the rest of the quarter, until the final two minutes of the half. With Dawson Springs leading 28-27, Madisonville closed out the half on an 8-0 run to go into the locker room leading 35-28. Franklin and Camryn LaGrange scored all eight of the points, most on layups coming off Lady Panther turnovers.
The run that ended the first half continued early in the second half for the Lady Maroons. Courtney Peyton connected for seven quick points to extend the lead to 42-28. By the time the big run, over two quarters had ended, Madisonville had scored 23 in a row and the Lady Panthers found themselves down by 22 points at 50-28. The Lady Maroon defense held the Lady Panthers scoreless for more than seven minutes. At quarter’s end, Madisonville was in complete control, leading 53-31.
The Lady Panthers had one last push in them to try and make a game of it. Three consecutive threes, two from Randolph and one from Brooklyn Clark cut the lead to 14 points at 56-42, but that would be the final threat from Dawson Springs in the contest, as the Lady Maroons held on for a 16 point win.
Madisonville was led by Kara Franklin with 22 points. Courtney Peyton added 16 points, while Camryn LaGrange scored 15.
Denisha Randolph was the top scorer for the Lady Panthers with 15 points, on five 3-pointers. 8th grader Brooklyn Clark scored 14, while Erin Orten, playing in her final game for Dawson Springs added 10 points.
Madisonville improves to 21-7 on the season and moves to Friday night’s championship game. Dawson Springs ends the season at 12-17.
