Hopkins County Central will defend its 2021 7th District championship Thursday night after advancing past Caldwell County 61-35 in semifinal action Monday night in Princeton.
The Lady Storm (18-9) trailed only briefly early in the contest before taking a 12-9 lead after one period.
By halftime, the margin was 31-19.
Caldwell was within single digits in the third period, but could never put together a run to get back in the game and put pressure on the Lady Storm.
Instead, Hopkins Central took a 43-31 lead to the final frame, then put the contest away by outscoring the Lady Tigers 18-4 in the fourth quarter.
Brooklyn Clark led the Lady Storm with 15 points while Mercy Sutton had nine and Emile Jones eight.
Katy Smiley had 11 points for Caldwell, which ends the season at 11-18.
Hopkins Central has taken five straight from Caldwell to edge ahead in the all-time series 33-32.
The Lady Storm will meet top-seeded Madisonville-North Hopkins in the district title tilt at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Both Hopkins Central and Madisonville have earned berths in the 2nd Region tournament next week.
Caldwell County 9 10 12 4 — 35
Hopkins Central 12 19 12 18 — 61
Caldwell County (11-18) — Smiley 11, Hollowell 7, McKinney 5, Thomas 4, Copeland 4, Butts 2, Aikins 2.
Hopkins County Central (18-9) — Clark 15, Sutton 9, Jones 8, Peyton 7, Fritz 6, White 6, Mason 5, Whitaker-Greer 5.
