The Hopkins County Central Lady Storm went into their matchup with the Marshall County Lady Marshals at the 2025 Holiday Hoopla Classic looking for their fourth straight win. Unfortunately they were not able to do that, as Marshall was able to carve out a lead in the second half and win 49-33.
The two teams started the game out immediately trading threes in the first quarter. Marshall stayed hot from beyond and took the lead, but Central was able to get it going on the defensive end and come out of the quarter with a 12-11 lead.
The Lady Storm got a bit careless with the ball to start the second quarter, turning it over a few times. This led them to be down 15-12 at a time out with roughly six minutes left in the period. They were then finally able to get their offense going with five straight points from Addie Menser, and then they started playing some serious defense to get some momentum.
But a stoppage of play due to confusion with the number of fouls against Marshall County stopped that momentum. That combined with a three from the Lady Marshals in the final seconds left to Central being down 24-19 going into the halftime break.
The third quarter started just like the first did with some back and forth, but this time it was the Lady Marshals who started to get some stops and extend their lead to 37-25 by the end of the quarter.
They were able to keep that lead and have it 46-28 at a timeout with three minutes left. The fourth was a slower quarter, as a lot of fouls were starting to be called, but it still ended with Marshall County getting the win 49-33.
The leading scorer for Hopkins Central was Menser with 15 points behind three shots from beyond the arc. Calajia Mason was also able to contribute eight points of her own.
This was the thirteenth meeting between the Lady Marshals and the Lady Storm, and Marshall has been able to win all but one of them. The only time that Central has won the matchup was in January of 2023.
They will be looking to get revenge against the Lady Marshals in their second matchup with them of the season in their final game on February 19.
But for now, the Lady Storm will focus on bouncing back in their next game on Tuesday, December 16, against Caldwell County. Their game ie scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. at Hopkins County Central High School.
