Lady Rockets Outslug Todd Central In 61-59 HoopFest Win

The year 1987 gave us the movie ‘Morgan Stewart’s Coming Home’, a coming-of-age flick starring Jon Cryer and Lynn Redgrave.

The year 2024 has given Crittenden County the coming of age of Morgan Stewart, the sophomore forward.

Stewart came off the bench to score a team-high 19 points and help the Lady Rockets hold off Todd County Central 61-59 on Wednesday in the Mr. Cool Marshall County HoopFest.

Stewart, who averaged just two points in 32 games last year, has given Crittenden County 31 points in a 2-0 Lady Rocket start to the season.

Bristyn Rushing, who led Crittenden with 19 points in Monday’s win at Caldwell County, picked up early foul trouble and that’s when Stewart went to work.

The Lady Rockets were down 13-6 in the first quarter when Stewart scored four points in the final two minutes to get Crittenden to within 17-14.

She added six more points in the second quarter as Crittenden overcame a slow shooting night to take a 26-25 lead at intermission.

The third quarter saw two ties and four lead changes thanks to the inside play of Todd Central’s Alexis Taylor. She had eight of Todd’s 19 points in the quarter, but Stewart scored Crittenden’s final seven points of the quarter as the Lady Rockets closed with a 9-4 spurt to take a 49-44 lead into the final frame.

Taylor scored Todd’s first six points of the quarter as the Lady Rebels chipped away at the Crittenden lead.

A JaMya Kay 3-pointer with 1:22 left got Todd to within 59-58. Stewart hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to 61-58 with 29 seconds left.

Todd got off two shots in the final 10 seconds. Taylor grabbed a rebound and was fouled with six seconds left, just missing a bucket and a chance at a three-point play.

Taylor hit one of two free throws with the miss going out of bounds. Crittenden was able to inbound the ball and run out the clock for the two-point win.

Stewart’s 19 points came with six rebounds on 6-of-6 shooting from the field and 7-of-10 at the free throw line.

Anna Boone hit 10-of-12 free throws and finished with 12 points.

For the game, Crittenden was 19-of-27 at the free throw line including 10-of-11 in the second half. Todd Central hit 10-of-13 at the line.

Taylor produced her second double-double of the season with 28 points and 15 rebounds. Last season, she passed 1,500 career points and she needs just six rebounds to join the 1,000 rebound club.

Kay added 12 points and Daymea Garrett scored 11 points.

Todd Central outrebounded Crittenden 39-27 but the Lady Rockets had 15 second-chance points on eight offensive boards.

It was a game that lived up to the expectations of a pair of teams expected to compete for the All A Classic region title in their respective regions.

Todd County Central (1-1) gets another tough assignment on Saturday when they play last year’s state runner-up McCracken County in the Independence Bank Tip-Off Classic in Owensboro.

Crittenden County (2-0) will host Union County on Thursday.