The Henderson County Lady Colonels are back in the Girls’ 2nd Region championship game for the second year in a row and the 7th time in the last eight year. Henderson moved on with a 69-28 win over the Trigg County Lady Wildcats, who were in the regional semis for the first time in 30 years. The last time they reached the semfinals, it was also Henderson County that knocked them out, back in the 1990 tournament.
Henderson County’s pressure caused the Lady Wildcats serious issues from the opening tipoff. The Lady Colonels forced Trigg County into 8 turnovers in the opening quarter. Led by the play of Emilee Hope and Sadie Wurth, the Lady Colonels jumped out to a 10-2 lead. By the time the quarter ended, the Henderson County lead was at 19-7.
The Lady Colonels then effectively delivered the knockout blow coming out to start the 2nd quarter. Henderson County opened the quarter with a 12-2 run to go up 31-9.
After turning the ball over 8 times in the first quarter, the Lady Wildcats did a much better job at ball security in the second, turning the ball over only three times. Trigg County, however, could not contain Sadie Wurth at the other end of the court, as Wurth finsihed the opening half with 15 points. The Lady Wildcats did take some positive momentum into the locker room at the half, as they finished the half on a 7-0 run to cut the Henderson lead from 25 down to 36-18 at the break.
When the teams returned to the court, the Henderson starters returned to the lineup and came out with the aim of effectively finishing the game quickly. The Lady Colonels opened with a 21- 2 run to enact the running clock rule at 57-20. The quarter ended with Henderson County up 61-22.
Once the running clock was in play, Henderson reserves returned to the court to finish out the game, which played out quickly, with the Lady Colonels riding on out to the 41 point win.
Sadie Wurth led the way for the Lady Colonels with 20 points and 9 rebounds. Emilee Hope finished with 9 points. Graci Risley, Jocelyn Spaulding, and Kaytlan Kemp added 8 points apiece.
Kinizah Grubbs was the top scorer for Trigg County with 8 points and 5 rebounds. Rylee Bush, Adri Phillips, and Marleigh Reynolds finished with 5 points each.
Turnovers, or lack thereof, were a big part of the contest. Trigg County turned the ball over 18 times in the game, while Henderson County only had 8 turnovers.
Henderson County improves to 21-7 on the season with the win. The Lady Colonels advance on to Tuesday night’s regional championship game, where they will face the Madisonville Lady Maroons, who advanced by knocking off Webster County 53-45.
Trigg County sees a great season end with a record of 25-9, and with their 2nd straight 5th District championship.
TEAM SCORING
HCHS (21-7) 19 17 25 8 – 69
TCHS (25-9) 7 11 4 6 – 28
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
HCHS: Hope 9, Wurth 20, Risley 8, Spaulding 8, Kemp 8, Thomas 7, Veal 5, Toombs 2, Carter 2
TCHS: Bush 5, O. Noffsinger 1, Phillips 5, Reynolds 5, Hyde 4, K. Grubbs 8
