Turns out it was the Christian County Lady Colonels’ turn. Christian County took advantage of early foul trouble for Hopkinsville and let their defense lead the way as they rolled past the Lady Tigers 71-26 in Thursday night’s 8th District Girls’ championship game.
It marks the 5th straight year that the two teams have rotated the district championship. Christian County also won the title in 2021 and 2019, while Hopkinsville won the title in 2022 and 2020.
Problems developed early in the first quarter for the Lady Tigers. Starting point guard Kahtahvia Fleming picked up three fouls in the first 59 seconds of the game and had to sit for the rest of the first quarter. With Fleming on the bench, the Christian County pressure defense began to take a toll.
With NeVaeh Day on the point of both the half-court trap and the full-court press for Christian County, the Lady Colonels started forcing turnovers and getting quick scoring opportunities at the other end.
Another problem for Hopkinsville as a result of the foul problems for Kahtahvia Fleming is that it took TaRia Sharber out of position. Sharber, who was a force inside Tuesday night during Hoptown’s win over UHA, was moved to the point, which pulled her away from the basket, and in turn, allowed the Christian County inside players to control the lane.
With Anaysia Bagwell and NeVaeh Day leading the charge, Christian County used a 7-1 spurt to close out the opening quarter and take a 20-9 lead.
The momentum of the Christian County run to end the opening quarter carried over into the beginning of the second. With Fleming still on the bench with foul troubles for Hopkinsville, the Lady Colonels opened the second quarter with an 11-2 run to push the lead out to 31-11.
The flow of the game forced Hopkinsville Coach Keith Leslie to make a critical decision about halfway through the quarter. Leslie returned Fleming to the game with her three fouls and it would turn out to possibly be the final nail in the coffin for the Lady Tigers. Less than a minute later, Fleming picked up her fourth foul and had to go back to the bench.
The Lady Colonels finished out the half with a 9-3 run and left the court well on their way to the title with a 40-14 lead.
For the Lady Tigers, it just seemed to snowball on them from there. With Fleming’s foul problems, Hoptown continued to have ball security issues and the Lady Colonels were more than willing to reap the benefits. Christian County scored the first six points of the third quarter to make it 46-14. The Lady Colonels would then officially close the door by scoring the final ten points of the third to go into the final quarter leading 60-17.
With the running clock in play, the final quarter played out fairly quickly as the Lady Colonels rode it on out to the final 45-point margin and the district championship.
Christian County’s Anaysia Bagwell led all scorers in the game with 25 points. NeVaeh Day finished with 20 points. DEbony Anderson also reached double figures with 11.
Shiyah Forte came off the bench to lead Hopkinsville with seven points, all in the second half. TaRia Sharber added six points, all in the first half, for the Lady Tigers.
Christian County improves to 15-13, while Hopkinsville drops to 8-14.
Both teams will advance to next week’s 2nd Region tournament, which is being played at Union County High School.
HHS – 09 05 03 09 — 26
CCHS – 20 20 20 11 — 71
Hopkinsville – Forte 7, Sharber 6, Fleming 3, McGee 3, Tullis 3, Payton 2, Sheffield 2
Christian County – Bagwell 25, Day 20, Anderson 11, Daniel 5, McGee 4, Harris 3, McGregor 2, Northington 1
