You can’t have two schools that are much further apart and still be within the confines of the borders of the state of Kentucky. The Crittenden County Lady Rockets are set to face off early Friday afternoon against the Pikeville Lady Panthers in the quarterfinals of the All A Classic in Corbin.
Naturally, due to the mileage difference, the two teams are meeting for the first time since the KHSAA results page started keeping up with things. So familiarity will not be an issue in the contest.
The Lady Rockets, after getting past Lexington Christian 56-53 Wednesday in their opening round game, had the day off Thursday while the boys’ tournament got underway. Coach Shannon Hodge and her team did get some work in, traveling down the road to South Laurel High School.
Pikeville advanced with a 61-41 win over Harlan in the last game of the night Wednesday. Trinity Rowe, who figures to be a big challenge for the Lady Rocket defense Friday, scored 21 points and had four assists. Kristen Whited and Leighan Jackson had 11 points each for the Lady Panthers, who did have their struggles shooting the ball in the difficult Corbin Arena background. Pikeville hit just 39 percent from the field for the game.
Crittenden County got 25 points from Anna Boone and 17 from Jordyn Hodge in their win over LCA Wednesday night.
Crittenden County and Pikeville get started Friday at 1 pm Eastern. The winner advances to Saturday’s semifinals against the winner of the game between Danville Christian and Owensboro Catholic.
A win would put the Lady Rockets in the semifinals for the second time. In 2021, when, due to weather, the tournament played the first two rounds at school sites, the Lady Rockets reached the semifinals. The game with Pikeville marks the third appearance in the quarterfinals for Crittenden County in the last 8 years.
