Being a coach’s kid can sometimes be a tough gig. Crittenden County coach Shannon Hodge, however, might want to make sure that her daughter Jordyn gets whatever she wants to eat for two or three nights, maybe four over the next week.
Jordyn Hodge had a huge second half for the Lady Rockets as they built a 4th quarter double-digit lead and then held off a late rally from Lyon County on their way to a nail-biting 60-57 win over the Lady Lyons in the 2nd Region All A championship game at Caldwell County High School.
The Lady Rockets get their second consecutive All A regional championship and third in the past four seasons.
Jordyn Hodge heated up coming out of the locker room and found herself wide open on more opportunities than the Lady Lyons could afford. She hit five threes in the second half and on all five there was no defender anywhere in the neighborhood. Four of those three-point shots came in the final eight minutes of the game.
Hodge finished the game with 28 points, 23 of those coming in the second half of play.
The first half was a story of two completely different quarters. The first quarter saw both teams pressing full court, getting up and down the floor, having their struggles with ballhandling, and getting shots up in rapid frequency. If not for Lyon County having ball security issues in the opening minutes of the game, the Lady Lyons may well have led by double digits after the first quarter.
However, the Lady Lyons turned the ball over six times in the first eight minutes. Despite that, thanks to a big first quarter from Courtney Collins and Trinity Taylor, the Lady Lyons led 21-17 at the end of one. Anna Boone helped to keep the Lady Rockets close as the Lady Lyons almost dared her on three separate occasions to shoot a deep three. Boone obliged Lyon County and buried all three.
The pace of the game completely shifted in the second quarter. Both teams elected to play tough half-court defense. Crittenden County was able to hold the Lady Lyons without a point for almost six minutes of the quarter. The good news for the Lady Lyons is that their 2-3 zone was almost as effective against the Lady Rockets as Crittenden County just scored five points in that same period.
Trinity Taylor’s late 3-point play helped the Lady Lyons take a hard-fought one-point lead into the half at 28-27. Taylor finished the half with 13 points. Anna Boone’s 13 had Crittenden County right in the thick of it at the break.
Early in the third, the two teams were tied at 30 and 32. The Lady Rockets would finish the quarter on a 6-2 run to go into the final quarter up 38-34.
With Hodge leading the way, Crittenden County began the final quarter like they were ready to run away with the game. The Lady Rocket lead would grow to as many as 11 points at 54-43 with just over four minutes left in the game.
Give the Lady Lyons credit though, they would not go down without a fight. Lyon began to attack the basket and turned up the heat on defense. Suddenly, the margin began to shrink, and shrink quickly.
Twice, on the second of two free throws, the Lady Lyons were able to slip inside and get rebounding position for an easy putback. Trinity Taylor and Courtney Collins were big factors inside during the rally. Piper Cotham, who had been quiet for the first 28 minutes, got going and the lead was down to 56-54 late.
Lyon County came up with a steal and had a chance to tie, but turned the ball over. Crittenden County got a big basket from Bristyn Rushing to push the lead back out to four. Still, Lyon had the ball down three with just 11.1 seconds left, but a long three at the horn from Piper Cotham was off the mark and the Lady Rockets were headed to Corbin.
Trinity Taylor led Lyon County with 18 points. Piper Cotham added 14, 12 of them coming in the second half. Courtney Collins finished with 13 points.
Jordyn Hodge was the top scorer in the game with 28 points. Anna Boone chipped in with 17, 13 of those coming before halftime.
Crittenden County improves to 10-7 with the win. The Lady Rockets will take on Lexington Christian, the champions out of the 11th Region in the opening round of the All A Classic. LCA advanced with an overtime win over Berea on Saturday afternoon. The All A Classic state tournament gets underway on Wednesday, January 24 in Corbin Arena.
Before then, the Lady Rockets will return to action Tuesday on the road at Trigg County for a 5th District contest.
Lyon County drops to 12-6 with the loss. The Lady Lyons are scheduled to be back on the court Monday night at home against Christian County.
CCHS — 17 10 11 22 – 60
LCHS — 21 7 6 23 – 57
Crittenden County – Hodge 28, Boone 17, Rushing 6, Federico 5, Evans 4
Lyon County – Taylor 18, Cotham 14, Collins 13, Holland 10, Perry 2
