After five previous trips to the Murray Bank Holiday Classic, the Todd County Central Lady Rebels finally brought the first place trophy back to Elkton.
The Lady Rebels held off a late Hopkins County Central run to beat the Lady Storm 41-39 and claim the title of the two-day, six-team event.
The win gives Todd County Central an 11-3 record going into its district opener with Franklin-Simpson on Friday.
Todd County Central held five-point leads after the first quarter and at halftime.
They pushed the lead to 34-24 on an Abby Williams bucket with 6:47 left. However, Hopkins Central had one final run left in them. A 7-0 run over the next two minutes cut the Todd lead to 34-31.
The game turned with 3:27 left when Tyah White was called for an offensive foul that drew a protest from Storm coach Phillip Cotton who was assessed two technical fouls and ejected. Joining him a short time later was a Storm fan sitting behind the bench.
Williams hit 2 of 4 free throws to push the lead back to 36-31.
After Calaijia Mason’s bucket got Hopkins Central to within 39-37 with 46 seconds left, MaMya Kay was fouled. She hit both free throws to give the Lady Rebels a four-point advantage.
Addie Menser’s putback with 21 seconds left again made it a two-point game. Todd missed two free throws in the final five seconds, but White’s off-balance shot at the horn was off the mark and preserved the Lady Rebel win.
While the Lady Rebels shot below their season average (31%), they were 5 of 15 from 3-point range and hit six more free throws than Hopkins Central.
Alexis Taylor led Todd Central was 16 points and 10 rebounds and was named to the all-tournament team. In three tournament games, the junior scored 73 points and pulled down 37 rebounds.
Williams added 14 points and Jordyn Shemwell and JaMya Kay each scored seven points.
Tyah White scored 13 points for Hopkins Central and Calajia Mason scored 10 second half points and had 12 rebounds.
The win was Todd County’s second over the Lady Storm in 15 days and pushed them ahead in the all-time series 10-9.
Todd’s 11-3 start equals that of the 2011-12 team that won the district title and advanced to the semifinals of the region tournament.
The Lady Rebels will host Franklin-Simpson (12-0) on Friday in the district opener for both teams.
| Todd County Central 41, Hopkins County Central 39 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hopkins County Central (6-6) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tyah White 6-11 0-1 13; Calajia Mason 5-15 0-0 10; Addie Menser 3-9 3-4 9; Braylee Marsh 1-3 2-2 4; Kenzleigh Harrison 1-7 1-4 3; JahShiyah White 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 16-45 6-11 39. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Todd County Central (11-3) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Alexis Taylor 5-9 4-8 16; Abby Williams 4-14 4-6 14; JaMya Kay 1-6 3-4 5; Jordyn Shemwell 2-7 0-0 5; Chloe Collins 0-2 1-4 1; Daymea Garrett 0-0 0-0 0; Zalaya Smith 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 12-38 12-22 41. | ||||||||||||||||||
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| 3-point goals-Hopkins County Central 1-6 (Tyah White 1-2; Calajia Mason 0-1; Kenzleigh Harrison 0-2; Addie Menser 0-1) , Todd County 5-15 (Alexis Taylor 2-2; Abby Williams 2-7; Jordyn Shemwell 1-4; JaMya Kay 0-1; Chloe Collins 0-1) .
Fouled out–Hopkins County Central-Kenzleigh Harrison, Todd County-None. Rebounds-Hopkins County Central 31 (Calajia Mason 12) , Todd County 32 (Alexis Taylor 10) . Assists-Hopkins County Central 3 (Tyah White 1; Kenzleigh Harrison 1; Braylee Marsh 1) , Todd County 10 (Chloe Collins 5) . Total Fouls-Hopkins County Central 14, Todd County 10. |
