Henderson County Makes it Lucky 7 in Regional Championship Win

One team came into the night looking for just its second trip ever to the girls’ state tournament. The other was looking for a seventh straight trip to the ‘big show’ at Rupp Arena. Henderson County used smothering defense and a very efficient offensive attack to take control of the game early in the second quarter and run their way past the Crittenden County Lady Rockets 66-31 in the 2nd Region championship game at Christian County High School.

Henderson County won its seventh straight title and 18th in the last 21 years.

Both teams came out and got good looks on their opening possession but could not convert. Crittenden County broke the ice on a basket by Jordyn Hodge with 6:52 to go in the opening quarter as the Lady Rockets took the first lead of the game at 2-0.

Brooklyn Gibson came right back for Henderson County on the next trip down the floor and drained a three to put the Lady Colonels up 3-2, and the game was off and running.

Gibson, who scored just 9 points the last time the two teams met in February, nearly beat that in the first quarter Saturday night. Sparked by the outside shooting of the junior, Henderson County moved out to a 12-7 lead.

Crittenden County came back with five quick points, including a long Anna Boone three that tied the game at 12-12 inside the final minute of the quarter.

Henderson County’s ATylia Green hit a shot from the right side of the lane with under 20 seconds to go in the first quarter that gave the Lady Colonels a 14-12 lead at the end of the quarter.

Neither team set the nets on fire in the first. Henderson shot the better of the two, going 6 of 13 from the field while the Lady Rockets were 4 of 13.

Brooklyn Gibson and ATylia Green combined to score all 14 of Henderson County’s points in the first. Anna Boone had 7 for Crittenden County.

The Lady Rockets’ cool shooting in the first quarter carried over into the start of the second. Henderson County came out and scored the first 5 points of the quarter to extend the lead to 19-12, drawing a timeout from Coach Shannon Hodge on the Crittenden County sideline with 5:01 to go in the second.

Anna Boone got a steal and a layup to end the Henderson County run with 4:01 to go in the half, trimming the lead to 19-14. But the Lady Colonels responded with four quick points that made it 23-14 and led to another Crittenden County timeout with 3:08 to go in the half.

Henderson County got a late three from Brooklyn Gibson and then a layup just ahead of the horn from Adalyn Gish to push the margin out to 31-18 at the break.

In addition to the cool shooting, one of the big problems in the second quarter for the Lady Rockets was that Anna Boone was the only player to score in the quarter. Meanwhile, the Lady Colonels had five players put a notch in the second quarter scoring column.

Speaking of the shooting, Crittenden County got even cooler in the second quarter, ending up at 27.3 percent for the half at 6 of 22, while Henderson County got up to an even 50 percent for the half at 11 of 22 from the field.

The Lady Colonels came out of the locker room and scored the first five points of the second half and extended the lead out to 36-18. Henderson’s full-court defensive pressure also started to really affect the Crittenden County offense and made it a struggle for the Lady Rockets to simply get the ball into frontcourt.

Leading 39-22, Henderson County delivered the knockout blow with an 8-0 run that was capped off by a deep three from Adalyn Gish that made it 47-22 and officially enabled the Lady Colonels to start making their plans to be in Lexington Thursday night.

A scary moment late in the third when Anna Boone went down hard on a drive to the basket with 1:41 to go in the third. After a few moments on the floor, she was assisted to the Crittenden County bench.

The third quarter came to an end with Henderson County up 50-25 and just 8 minutes from yet another trip to the Girls’ Sweet 16.

Henderson County would continue pulling away, with the lead reaching as many as 35 points and that coming at the final horn.

ATylia Green led three Henderson County players in double figures with 18 points. Brooklyn Gibson, who set the tone early for the Lady Colonels, added 17 points. Adalyn Gish rounded out the double figures, scoring 11 points. Allyson Rideout just missed joining the party with 8 points.

For Crittenden County, Anna Boone scored 15 points, 13 of those coming in the first half of play. Jordyn Hodged ended the night with 7 points. Andrea Federico added 4 for the Lady Rockets.

Field goal shooting told the story in this game as the Lady Rockets got colder and colder as the night went on and Henderson County’s shooting got better and better. Crittenden County ended up shooting just 22 percent for the game, while Henderson County shot 53.3 percent.

Henderson County ended up winning the rebounding battle 35-24.

With the win, which is the Lady Colonels’ 5th straight and 12th in the last 13 games, Henderson County goes to 27-5 on the season and advances on to Rupp Arena and the Girls’ Sweet 16 for the seventh straight year. The Lady Colonels will play the 1st Region champion Thursday at 6 pm.

Crittenden County, the 2nd Region All A Classic champion and All A Classic state tournament semifinalist, sees its season finish with a mark of 23-8. The Lady Rockets have no seniors on this year’s roster.