Hopkins County Central played the part of the No. 1 seed well Tuesday night.
The Lady Storm scored the first 18 points of the contest and went on to rout Dawson Springs 73-12 in the 7th District semifinals in Princeton.
Hopkins Central will take on Madisonville-North Hopkins in Friday’s championship game. The Lady Maroons (15-9) fought past Caldwell County 82-74 in Tuesday’s late semifinal contest.
Hopkins Central’s full-court pressure kept the Lady Panthers off the scoreboard for almost 6 full minutes in their semifinal round matchup.
Olivia Hines scored from inside with 2:02 left in the first period to break the Dawson drought.
However, Hopkins Central took a 24-3 lead to the second quarter.
The margin was 47-6 at halftime, resulting in a running clock for the entire second half.
The Lady Storm led 57-11 through three stanzas.
Hopkins Central (18-13) played its bench extensively, with 12 players getting into the scoring column.
Calajia Mason led the way with 12 points — all coming in the first half. Marlee Thomas added 11 and BriNiyah Dulin had 10. Tyah White finished with eight.
Baylee Swatzell scored six points for the Lady Panthers, who end the season with a 7-15 mark.
Hopkins Central has now taken 16 straight meetings against Dawson, going back to the 2018 7th District tournament. The Lady Storm has won 29 of the last 30 meetings.
Dawson Springs 3 3 5 1 — 12
Hopkins Central 24 23 10 16 — 73
Dawson Springs (7-15)—B. Swatzell 6, A. Swatzell 2, Colson 2, Hines 2.
Hopkins County Central (18-13)—Mason 12, Thomas 11, Dulin 10, White 8, Smith 7, Menser 6, Hobgood 6, Liles 4, Cotton 3, Beverly 3, Howard 2, Harrison 1.
