Madison Grigg only totaled six points in Friday’s 7th District championship game but they were big ones.
The Hopkins County Central senior canned a pair of key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as her Lady Storm knocked off Madisonville-North Hopkins 46-45 in the district title tilt in Princeton.
In what was a tight battle all the way, the Lady Maroons looked to be opening up some breathing room when six straight points — capped by a 3 by Lillie Carman — gave Madisonville its biggest lead of the night at 40-35 with 5:39 left in the contest.
However, Grigg drilled a 3 at the other end to cut the gap two two.
Another Grigg trey at the 3:27 mark pushed the Lady Storm back in front 41-40.
Madisonville (5-9) regained the lead momentarily when Amari Lovan scored inside at the other end.
But Hopkins Central (10-7) responded almost immediately with a jumper in the lane from Mercy Sutton to retake the lead, 43-42 with 3:01 remaining.
Emilee Jones scored from in close with 2:22 to go to put Hopkins Central up 45-42.
The teams traded free throws to make it 46-43 with just over a minute left.
Madisonville stayed on the Lady Storm’s heels when Destiny Whitsell scored on a stickback with still 46 seconds to play. That made it a one-point game again at 46-45.
Hopkins Central missed at the free throw stripe with 18 seconds to play, leaving the door open for the Lady Maroons.
Following a Madisonville timeout with 9.7 seconds left, the Lady Maroons missed a runner, but Whitsell tracked down the offensive rebound. However, she was tied up by Grigg as the final horn sounded, giving Hopkins Central the one-point triumph and its first district title since 2017.
Jones led a balanced Lady Storm scoring effort with 11 points. Brianna Fritz and Keri Reynolds each had 10 while Sutton finished with nine.
Madisonville, which had won the last two 7th District championships, got 15 points from Lovan and 11 from Whitsell.
Hopkins Central led 26-23 at halftime, but Madisonville took a 36-35 lead to the final frame.
As district champion, Hopkins Central will host a first-round game in the 2nd Region tournament on Tuesday.
Madisonville will be on the road in the opening round of the regional tourney.
Madisonville-NH 11 12 13 9 — 45
Hopkins Central 14 12 9 11 — 46
Madisonville-North Hopkins (5-9)—Amari Lovan 15, Destiny Whitsell 11, Kara Franklin 8, Lillie Carman 6, Kailey Barber 5.
Hopkins County Central (10-7)—Emilee Jones 11, Brianna Fritz 10, Keri Reynolds 10, Mercy Sutton 9, Madison Grigg 6.
