For the seventh straight year, the girls’ 7th District championship game will feature Hopkins County Central and Madisonville-North Hopkins.
But the Lady Maroons needed a strong final 3 minutes to put away Caldwell County in their semifinal matchup Tuesday night in Princeton.
The Lady Tigers (10-16) led for much of the night in their upset bid — and the game was tied 67-67 following two Tink Clark free throws with 3:19 to play in the contest.
No. 2-seed Madisonville (15-9) regained the lead on a running 15-footer by Riley Sword with 2:35 to go.
KeDarriah Thompson got third-seeded Caldwell within 69-68 when she made one of two charity tosses with 2:25 remaining.
However, Sadie Kirk scored inside at the 1:51 mark, then Sword scored on a layup with 1:31 left to push the Madisonville margin to 73-68.
Kirk scored again off a pass from Kailey Barber with 1:08 remaining to make it 75-69, and the Lady Maroons held on for the eight-point triumph.
Sword scored nine of her game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter to help Madisonville pull out the win.
Macy Wright had some big baskets in the second half and totaled 10 of her 19 points in the final frame.
Kirk and Barber each had 12 points while Taylor Nelson gave the Lady Maroons a fifth player in double figures with 11.
Clark had 20 points to lead Caldwell while Med Thomas added 18. Thompson had 17 points and also grabbed her 500th career rebound during the contest.
Madisonville continued its mastery over Caldwell on the basketball court.
The Lady Maroons have taken 18 straight against Caldwell in a run going back to the 2018 7th District tournament.
The 74 points were the most scored by the Lady Tigers this season, but the 82 points were the most allowed in a game.
Meanwhile, the 82 points were also the most in a contest for Madisonville while the 74 points were the most allowed this season.
The Lady Maroons led 21-19 after one quarter, but Caldwell took a 34-29 advantage to halftime. The Lady Tigers were still up 54-53 through three quarters.
The Lady Maroons will face Hopkins Central (18-13) in Friday’s district title tilt. The Lady Storm routed Dawson Springs 73-12 in Tuesday’s first semifinal.
Over the last six years, Madisonville has won four titles, including last season.
Both Madisonville and Hopkins Central will play in the 2nd Region tournament next week at Christian County.
Madisonville-NH 21 8 24 29 — 82
Caldwell County 19 15 20 20 — 74
Madisonville-North Hopkins (15-9)—Sword 24, Wright 19, Barber 12, Kirk 12, Nelson 11, Bryant 4.
Caldwell County (10-16)—Clark 20, M. Thomas 18, Thompson 17, Aikins 8, Butts 7, McCoy 4.
