Sophomore Anaysia Bagwell gave the Christian County Lady Colonels a spark just when they needed it the most.
She finished with a game-high 29 points as the Lady Colonels advanced over Madisonville-North Hopkins 56-51 in the 2nd Region quarterfinals in Cadiz.
Down 47-37 to the Lady Maroons late in the third quarter of Monday’s regional tournament game, the Lady Colonels’ season was seemingly slipping away from them.
But Bagwell scored on a drive to the basket for the final points of the third period to get Christian within eight points.
She then buried a 3-pointer 49 seconds into the fourth quarter and the margin had quickly gone from 10 points to five points.
Those baskets spurred a 13-0 run that included 11 points from Bagwell.
Bagwell’s 3-pointer at the 3:59 mark of the final frame gave the Lady Colonels a 50-47 lead.
Madisonville (16-13) regrouped long enough to regain the lead at 51-50 on a 3 from Bryanne Johnson with 3:33 to play.
But those proved to be the final points of the night for the Lady Maroons.
Meanwhile, Bagwell scored on a drive into the lane at the other end with 2:17 to go to put Christian back on top.
The Lady Colonels made just enough free throws down the stretch to hold on for the five-point triumph and advance to Friday’s regional semifinals.
Christian (18-9) outscored Madisonville 17-4 in the fourth quarter to keep its season alive.
The back-and-forth contest saw the Lady Maroons lead 8-2 early before the Lady Colonels came back to lead 13-12 after one quarter.
Christian led by as much as eight points in the second period before going to halftime with a 27-24 edge.
Madisonville surged ahead by 10 points in the third quarter before Christian came back to win in the fourth period.
Lazarie Daniel added 13 points for the Lady Colonels.
Destiny Whitsell had 15 for the Lady Maroons while Riley Sword added 14 and Johnson had 11.
The two teams played to the same score on Dec. 5, but Madisonville won that contest at Christian County.
The Lady Colonels have won 13 of their last 14 games. The only setback was the 60-58 loss to Hopkinsville in last week’s 8th District championship.
Christian County will play Henderson County (23-7) in the first semifinal at 6:00. Henderson advanced with a 72-44 win over Crittenden County on Monday.
Christian County 13 14 12 17 — 56
Madisonville-NH 12 12 23 4 — 51
Christian County (18-9)—Bagwell 29, Daniel 13, Day 8, Northington 5, McGee 1.
Madisonville-North Hopkins (16-13)—Whitsell 15, Sword 14, Johnson 11, Wright 4, Carney 4, Parrish 3.
