You know that odd-even thing that has been going on with the 8th District girls’ basketball championship since 2019. You know, the one where Hopkinsville wins the district championship in an even-numbered year and the Christian County Lady Colonels get to return the favor in an odd-numbered year. Yeah, that one. Well, guess what. It’s still going on.
Christian County got a monster night from the 2nd Region Player of the Year, NeVaeh Day, and used a late first half run to grab the momentum for good as the Lady Colonels won the 8th District title Thursday night 65-49 in Tiger Gym.
Christian County opened quickly Thursday night taking a 6-0 lead and then pushing that out to 12-2. Lazarie Daniel and NeVaeh Day were key in the Lady Colonels taking the early double digit lead.
But then Hopkinsville cranked up the defensive pressure and the shots stopped falling for the Lady Colonels. With Alicia Davis providing the spark, the Lady Tigers battled back to within 14-8 after one.
The Lady Colonels continued to struggle to find the basket as the second quarter got started. Meanwhile, Lee Lee Love gave Hopkinsville a lift with back-to-back baskets early in the quarter as the Lady Tigers went on a 10-4 spurt to pull even at 18-18.
Both teams at this point were going after each other on defense, which meant there was not a great deal happening for either team on offense as the game became a physical, hard-nosed affair.
The turning point for the night would come in the final 90 seconds of the half.
Christian County got a 7-0 run to close out the half to seize the momentum going into the break. The Lady Colonels were crashing the offensive boards and the ball ended up in the hands of Anaysia Bagwell, who buried a three. NeVaeh Day got her third blocked shot of the half on defense and that ended up in a layup at the other end. And Day got a basket down low to turn the 18-18 tie into a 25-18 Christian County lead at the half.
NeVaeh Day was a force for Christian County in the first sixteen minutes, coming up with 9 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks.
Even though scoring was low in the half, that was not anywhere near reflective of the frenetic pace at which the game was played.
The Lady Colonels took that momentum from the run at the end of the half and built on it in the opening moments of the third quarter. Christian County opened the second half with a 13-4 run that opened the game up to 38-22. At that point, the damage had been done as Hopkinsville would get no closer than 13 points for the rest of the game.
After leading by as many as 22, Christian County took a 51-32 lead into the fourth quarter. Lazarie Daniel and Anaysia Bagwell combined to score 17 points in the third as Christian County headed towards the district crown.
The Lady Colonels officially drove the final nail in with a 7-2 start to the fourth quarter that moved the lead out to 58-34 and locked up the championship for Christian County.
Anaysia Bagwell and NeVaeh Day led the scoring for Christian County with 17 points each. Day also had 21 rebounds and four blocks. Lazarie Daniel was right behind with 16 points. DaNiya Bradley and Carliah Hobson added 6 points each.
For Hopkinsville, Alicia Davis ended up with 17 points. After missing Monday night’s semifinal, Lee Lee Love came back and scored 12 points. Lashanti Wilson chipped in with 8 points.
Christian County improves to 17-9 with the win, which is the Lady Colonels’ third straight and 8th in the last nine games. Christian County will now head into the 2nd Region tournament as a district champion and will play either Monday night or Tuesday night at Lyle Dunbar Gym.
Hopkinsville drops to 10-12 for the season and will head into the 2nd Region tournament as a district runner-up and also will play either Monday night or Tuesday night.
The draw for the 2nd Region tournament will take place by Zoom meeting Saturday morning.
