The Henderson County Lady Colonels used tough, physical defense and efficient offense to pick up their second straight Girls 2nd Region championship Saturday night, and their 7th in the last eight seasons. The Lady Colonels would trail only once in the game on their way to a 66-49 win over the Madisonville-North Hopkins Lady Maroons in the title game at Christian County High School. Henderson County was the only team to beat the Lady Maroons this season, doing it once in the regular season, and Saturday night for the championship.
Henderson County opened the game bombing away from behind the 3-point line. The Lady Colonels connected on three shots from behind the arc in the first two minutes, taking a 9-4 lead and prompting a quick Madisonville timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Lady Maroon did a better job defending the three, for the rest of the quarter. The problem for the Lady Maroons was getting shots to fall at the offensive end of the court. With the officials letting both teams play tough and physical, Henderson County was able to keep the Lady Maroons off-stride as they would enter the paint.
When the quarter came to an end, the Lady Colonels found themselves in possession of a six point lead at 16-10. Twelve of the Henderson County points came from behind the 3-point line.
The same issues continued for the Lady Maroons as the second quarter got underway. The physical ply from Henderson County appeared to have the Madisonville offense off kilter every time they attempted to attack the basket. In addition, the Lady Colonels were able to gain defensive position to draw charging fouls against the Lady Maroons.
Just as they did in the opening quarter, the Lady Colonels opened the 2nd quarter on a 9-4 run to push their lead out to 25-14, leading again to a Madisonville timeout with 3:03 to go in the first half. After leading by as many as 12 in the first half, Henderson County headed off to the locker room with a 34-24 lead at the break.
Henderson County’s trio of Emilee Hope, Sadie Wurth, and Graci Risley combined to score 27 of the Lady Colonels’ 34 first half points. Camryn LaGrange, Lindsey Peyton, and Kara Franklin score six points each for the Lady Maroons in the opening half. LaGrange sat much of the second quarter after picking up her 2nd foul.
In addition to struggling from the field in the first half, turnovers were an issue for the Lady Maroons. Madisonville turned the ball over 8 times in the first 16 minutes of the game.
The Lady Maroons made a concerted effort to pick up the pace in the third quarter. The problem was that every time it looked like Madisonville was making a bit of a run, Henderson would get a big three. Both Emilee Hope and Sadie Wurth diffused run attempts with 3-pointers.
A big moment in the game came with just under 3 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter, when the Lady Maroons Camryn LaGrange picked up her 4th foul on what appeared to be a borderline charge call going down the lane. LaGrange had scored 8 points in the quarter at the time the foul was called. After she left the game, Henderson extended what had been cut to a 7 point lead back up to 11 at 46-35 late in the third quarter. The quarter ended with the Lady Colonels up 48-37.
After Madisonville cut the lead to 48-39 to open the final quarter, the Lady Colonels delivered the knockout blow for the night. Six quick points opened the lead out to 54-39 with just under five minutes to go. The Lady Maroons were then forced into gambling on both ends of the court, which led to turnovers on the offensive end and breakdowns on defense. By the time their run ended, Henderson County was up 60-39 and on their way back to Rupp Arena.
Emilee Hope led Henderson County with 19 points. Sadie Wurth chipped in with 17. Graci Risley finished with 9 points. Jocelyn Spaulding scored eight points for the Lady Colonels.
Despite battling foul problems all night long, Camryn LaGrange led the way for Madisonville with 16 points. Lindsey Peyton was the only other Lady Maroon to reach double figures with 10. She would also add 9 rebounds. Courtney Peyton would finish the night with seven points.
Henderson County improves to 22-7 with the win and moves on to the Girls Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena.
Madisonville sees a stellar season come to a conclusion with a record of 29-2, and the 7th District championship.
TEAM SCORING
MNHHS (29-2) 10 14 13 12 – 49
HCCH (22-7) 16 18 14 18 – 66
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
MNHHS: LaGrange 16, C. Peyton 7, L. Peyton 10, Franklin 6, Lovan 6, Stafford 2
HCHS: Hope 19, Wurth 17, Risley 9, Spaulding 8, Kemp 4, Thomas 7, Hubbard 2
