Like you can count on that groundhog seeing his shadow each year, so it goes with the Henderson County Lady Colonels winning the girls’ 2nd Region championship. Henderson got some timely 3-point shooting from sophomore Maggee Melvin, and the Lady Colonel defense limited Crittenden County to single-digit offense in each of the first two quarters as Henderson County knocked off the Lady Rockets 42-39 at Hopkins County Central High School.
Henderson County had to survive a furious late-game rally from the Lady Rockets that saw Crittenden County cut a 14-point second-half lead all the way down to two points in the final quarter, and then survive a heave at the buzzer to get the win.
The win gave the Lady Colonels their 8th consecutive regional title and was the second year in a row and third in the last four years that they have beaten Crittenden County for the title.
The first 60 seconds of the game saw both teams getting a little caught up in the moment with turnovers and missed shots, but it did not take long for both teams to get settled into the rhythm of the game.
Over the next three minutes of play, there were four lead changes and one tie. ATyla Green finally broke the back-and-forth pattern with a three from the left side that made it 9-5 and gave her seven points in the early going.
Turnovers were a problem for the Lady Rockets early on as they gave the ball up five times in the first four minutes, struggling with the Henderson County defensive pressure.
ATyla Green looked every bit the part of the 2nd Region ‘Player of the Year’ in the opening quarter. She scored two more points over the final half of the first quarter, giving her 9 as Henderson County closed out the first with a 7-2 spurt to take a 16-7 lead after one.
The story of the first quarter, in addition to the play of Green was Crittenden County’s struggles with ball security. The Lady Rockets had six turnovers during the opening quarter.
The turnovers were still an issue for Crittenden County during the second quarter, and shots stopped falling for much of the quarter. Crittenden County’s defense was keeping them in the game, they just could not get many good looks at the offensive end, and when they got a look, the shot would not fall.
Carried by their defense, the Lady Colonels worked their way out to a 26-12 lead late in the second and looked like they were about ready to run away and hide. Crittenden County’s Anna Boone hit a huge three in the final seconds of the half to bring Crittenden County back to within 26-15 at the break.
Boone and Jordyn Hodge combined to score 13 of the Lady Rockets’ 15 points in the opening half.
Crittenden County’s defense did a much better job keeping an eye on ATyla Green in the second quarter, holding Henderson County’s leader scoreless in the quarter. Jersey Gardner came off the bench for the Lady Colonels to score four points in the second.
Henderson County won the battle of the boards in the first half 16 to 12 and had just 5 turnovers, compared to 9 for the Lady Rockets.
Maggee Melvin drained a couple of big threes early in the third quarter and, once again, it looked like Henderson County was about to make its move, taking a 32-19 lead. But then things got interesting.
Crittenden County, sparked by its outside shooting, went on a 9-2 run to close to within 34-28, and the Rocket faithful, who had been loud most of the night, managed to find a new volume level. The Lady Rockets had a chance to get even closer with the last possession of the quarter, but lost track of time and did not get off a shot ahead of the horn, allowing Henderson County to head into the final eight minutes of the game holding a 35-28 lead.
The momentum from their run late in the third caught fire for Crittenden County in the beginning of the fourth. After missing their first two chances in the final quarter to cut into the lead, Anna Boone drained a three to make it 35-31. Boone then blocked a shot on the defensive end and drove to the basket, making the shot and cutting the lead to 35-33, prompting a timeout from Henderson County with 5:31 to go in the game.
WIth the crowd on both sides roaring, JaNyla Locher found herself open on the left wing and buried a three that pushed the Henderson lead back out to 38-33. Anna Boone scored moments later to make it 38-35.
ATyla Green scored her first point since the opening quarter with 1:34 left to extend the lead to 39-35. After the teams traded missed opportunities, Anna Boone hit a free-throw line jumper to cut the lead to 39-37 with 58.2 seconds left.
JaNyla Locher went 2 of 2 at the line with 45.6 seconds left to push it back out to 41-37. Jordyn Hodge’s floater in the lane with 33.9 seconds left cut it back to two points at 41-39.
ATyla Green was fouled moments later and made 1 of 2 to make it a 42-39 lead for the Lady Colonels.
After a pair of timeouts, Crittenden County inbounded the ball with 9.2 seconds left, and Anna Boone got a three from the top of the key that was just off line. Adalyn Gish got the rebound and was fouled with 3.8 seconds left in the game. Gish missed the first free throw and then missed the second. Jordyn Hodge got the rebound and launched a ¾-court shot that was short as the Henderson County celebration got underway.
It was an amazing defensive effort for Crittenden County that got the Lady Rockets back into the game as they held Henderson County to just 16 points in the second half, and just 7 in the final quarter.
Anna Boone, playing in her final game at Crittenden County, led the Lady Rockets with 20 points, 14 of them coming in a stellar second-half effort. Jordyn Hodge ended up with 14 points. Bristyn Rushing scored just 3 points but pulled down 9 rebounds in the game.
Henderson County was led by Maggee Melvin with 11 points, including three massive 3-point shots. ATyla Gree finished with 10 points, only one point coming after the first quarter. JaNyla Locher scored 8 points, including a big-time three in the fourth quarter.
The loss ends the Lady Rockets’ season at 26-6. Crittenden County was making its second straight appearance in the regional championship game and third in the past four seasons. Each time the Lady Rockets were knocked out by Henderson County.
With the win, which was their 9th in a row, the Lady Colonels improve to 24-9 on the season. Henderson County now moves on to the opening round of the 2026 Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Girls Basketball Sweet 16, which gets underway Wednesday at Rupp Arena. The Lady Colonels will play the opening game of this year’s tournament, taking on the 11th Region champion Wednesday at 11:00am.
Frederick Douglass (23-7) and Paul Laurence Dunbar (25-4) are playing in the 11th Region championship game Sunday evening at 7pm at McBrayer Arena in Richmond.
