Darrell Crawford was worried about a slow start for his Heritage Christian Academy Lady Warrior basketball team Saturday morning.
HCA was trying to knock off region rival Oak Ridge Christian Academy for the first time since 2018 at Saturday’s KCAA semifinal in Nicholasville.
The Lady Warrior head coach turned out to be prophetic.
Oak Ridge used a 10-0 first half run to lead 12-6 at halftime. Both teams appeared to have trouble adjusting to a 9 a.m. start time on a Saturday morning. Oak Ridge, however, adjusted more quicker.
HCA was bothered by 13 first half turnovers. Eight more turnovers in the third quarter helped Oak Ridge extend its lead to 26-8.
The light switch then came on for Heritage. The Lady Warriors doubled their scoring output for the first three quarters combined. Hallie Zieg scored 11 of her 15 points in the final frame. She also added 11 rebounds.
Down by 19 points on two fourth quarter occasions, the Lady Warriors got to within 38-24 on two free throws by Zieg with 1:50 left but would get no closer.
Bailey Craft scored four points and six rebounds.
Jersey Alford scored 22 points for Oak Ridge before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Oak Ridge advanced to the KCAA championship game by virtue of its 13 straight win over the Lady Warriors in what is likely the final game between the schools as HCA makes to move to the KHSAA next season and will no longer be able to play KCAA schools.
Heritage Christian 2 4 2 16– 24
Oak Ridge Christian 5 7 14 13– 39
Heritage Christian (11-11) – Zieg 15, Craft 4, Robson 2, Carr 2, Cherry 1
Oak Ridge Christian – J. Alford 22, Z. Cardwell 4, C. Cardwell 6, Asbridge 4, Burden 1
