Hopkins County Central junior Tyah White
Hopkins County Central and Madisonville-North Hopkins seem headed toward another showdown in the girls’ 7th District championship game.
Caldwell County and Dawson Springs will try to play spoiler, but the Lady Storm and Lady Maroons have met in the finals for six straight years, with Madisonville taking four of those matchups.
The girls’ 2025 7th District basketball tournament will be played next week at Caldwell County’s CAB gym.
Hopkins Central owns the No. 1 seed this season after sweeping Madisonville during the regular season. The Lady Storm won by 22 points in Madisonville but had to come from behind to win the rematch 58-54 in Mortons Gap.
It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster season for both squads, with Hopkins Central going 16-13 overall and 6-0 in the district while Madisonville is 14-9 and 4-2. (Each team still has one regular-season game remaining).
The Lady Maroons won the district championship last season, but it was the Lady Storm which put together a run to the 2nd Region title tilt before falling to Henderson County.
Hopkins Central will play the first semifinal game Tuesday at 5:30 against fourth-seeded Dawson Springs.
Juniors Tyah White and Calajia Mason lead the Lady Storm with 12.9 and 12.4 points a contest, respectively. White also grabs a team-high 7.3 rebounds a game.
Freshman guard Addie Menser adds 11.2 points a night for Hopkins Central, which won recent district championships in 2021 and 2023.
The Lady Panthers have gone 7-14 this season but were 0-6 in district play. That includes a pair of running-clock losses to Hopkins Central.
Freshman Baylee Swatzell leads Dawson’s youthful squad with 10.1 points a game. But the Lady Panther average just 30 points a contest.
Hopkins Central has taken 15 straight meetings against Dawson, going back to the 2018 7th District tournament. The Lady Storm has won 28 of the last 29 meetings.
Dawson has never won a girls’ district championship. The Lady Panthers were last runners-up in 2018.
The late semifinal Tuesday will pit No. 2 Madisonville and No. 3 Caldwell County at 7:00.
The Lady Maroons won recent titles in 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2024.
Madisonville has a balanced offensive attack behind 14.7 points a game from senior guard Riley Sword.
Junior SaNya Carney scores 9.1 points and grabs a team-high 7.1 rebounds a contest. Sophomore Macy Wright scores 8.7 points a game.
Caldwell is 10-15 this season but went 2-4 in district with both wins over Dawson Springs.
The Lady Tigers fell to Madisonville by 11 and 23 points during the regular season.
Caldwell’s girls last won the district championship in 2018.
Sophomore guard Tink Clark leads the Lady Tigers with 13.2 points a game while senior Brylee Butts nets 11 points a night.
But the Lady Tigers will have to end a lengthy losing streak to Madisonville to advance in the district tourney.
The Lady Maroons have taken 17 straight against Caldwell in a run going back to the 2018 7th District tournament.
The girls’ 7th District championship game will be played next Friday at 6:00 in Princeton.
Tickets are $8 and are now sale. They must be purchased online at GoFan. No passes will be accepted. All fans, including students, will need to purchase a ticket for the district tournament.
The 7th District champion and runner-up will advance to the 2nd Region tournament, which will be played this season at Christian County High School.
