The Henderson County Lady Colonels are headed back to the regional championship game once again, but for the second night this week, they had to survive a big battle that went down to the final moments of the game. Getting a big night from the region’s player of the year, A’Tyla Green, and they needed everything they got from her, Henderson County turned back the Hopkins County Central Lady Storm 71-64 in front of a loud and raucous semifinal crowd at Mortons Gap.
The win for Henderson County sets up a Saturday night championship contest against Crittenden County.
The Lady Storm opened the night with baskets from Addie Menser and Bri Dulin to get a quick 4-0 lead and set the Storm home folks into an early frenzy in the stands.
Henderson responded with baskets from Callie Burnett and ATyla Green, taking a 6-4 lead. Lady Storm turnovers aided the Lady Colonels in getting to the lead, and the ball-handling issues would be something that plagued Hopkins Central throughout the opening quarter.
Despite committing five turnovers in the opening quarter, the Lady Storm was able to battle back and take a 10-9 lead. The Lady Colonels closed out the quarter with a strong 9-2 spurt to grab an 18-12 lead after the first eight minutes of the game.
The turnover bug that bit the Lady Storm in the opening quarter discovered there was another team on the floor in the early moments of the second. Henderson County coughed up the ball four times in the first 1:10 of the quarter as Hopkins County Central trimmed the lead to 18-14, but had chances to get even closer or to get to the front in the game.
After the bumpy start to the quarter, Henderson County got settled back in and got their offense into a productive rhythm. Ignited by the three-point shooting of Jersey Gardner, who hit the dagger three earlier in the week against Lyon County, the Lady Colonels began to slowly inch away from the Lady Storm for the rest of the half. The Henderson County lead would reach as many as 11 points at 36-25 before Bri Dulin beat the horn on a drive to the basket to make it a 36-27 Henderson County lead at the half.
Tyah White and Dulin were doing their best to keep Hopkins County Central in the game. The pair combined for 17 points in the first 16 minutes of the game. The Henderson County defense was doing the job on Calajia Mason and Braylee Marsh, holding the pair without a point in the opening half.
The big story of the half for Henderson County was the boost the Lady Colonels got off the bench from Jersey Gardner, who scored 9 points on three 3-pointers. ATyla Green also had 9 points at the break for the Lady Colonels.
While it may have looked like Henderson County was the team taking the momentum into the break with the 9-point lead, it did not play out that way as the third quarter got started. Hopkins County Central started getting the ball to Tyah White down low, and the comeback was underway.
With White attacking on the inside, things also started to open up on the outside for Addie Menser. Led by that duo, the Lady Storm worked their way back and closed to within two points on three occasions late in the third quarter.
With the pressure beginning to mount, Henderson County looked to the 2nd Region ‘Player of the Year’ to try and save their regional championship hopes. ATyla Green scored five of her 10 points in the third quarter late in the quarter as the Lady Colonels were able to hold on and take a 49-44 lead into the final quarter.
Bri Dulin opened the fourth by knocking down a three-pointer, lifting the roof on the gym and bringing Hopkins Central back to within two points at 49-47. But every time the Lady Storm got to within two points, it seemed like the Lady Colonels had the answer, getting big baskets from Green and Maggee Melvin.
With Henderson clinging to a 53-51 lead, the Lady Colonels got huge three-pointers from JaNyla Locher and Melvin to run the lead out to 59-51. Still, the Lady Storm would not go away.
Central battled back to within four on a pair of occasions, the last coming at 61-57, just ahead of the shot of the night for Henderson County.
With the Lady Storm needing the ball back, they dared JaNyla Locher to take an open three from the left side, hoping for the miss and a chance to get the rebound. Instead, Locher knocked down the biggest shot of the night, the shot that gave the Lady Colonels a 64-57 lead and sent them on in the direction of Saturday night’s championship game.
Playing in her final game, Tyah White was the leading scorer for Hopkins County Central with 23 points. Addie Menser, who went over 1,000 points for her career earlier in the week, finished the night with 17 points. Bri Dulin added 10 points. Calajia Mason scored 9 points, all coming in the second half of play.
Henderson County was paced by ATyla Green with 26 points, 17 of them in the second half. JaNyla Locher and Maggee Melvin hada 10 points each and both had big moments when Henderson County needed them most in the second half. Jersey Gardner finished with 9 points, all in the first half.
Hopkins County Central sees its season come to an end with a record of 20-12. The Lady Storm have reached the semifinals of the regional tournament for four consecutive seasons.
The win, which was the Lady Colonels’ 8th straight, moves Henderson County to 23-9 on the season. Henderson will head into Saturday night’s championship game looking to win its 8th consecutive regional title. Waiting there will be Crittenden County for the third time in the past four seasons. The Lady Rockets have never beaten Henderson County.
Tipoff time for Saturday night’s championship game is set for 7pm at Hopkins County Central High School.
