It has been a long time since the Hopkins County Central Lady Storm has seen the opportunity to play for the 2nd Region championship. That wait is now officially over.
Tyah White scored the first five points of the game and the Hopkins County Central Lady Storm never trailed, leading the Hopkinsville Lady Tigers wire-to-wire on their way to a 62-42 win in Friday night’s second regional semifinal at Trigg County High School.
The win gives the Hopkins County Central Lady Storm their first regional championship game appearance since 2000. That season, Hopkins Central lost the title game to Union County. The previous season, a Lady Storm team led by Jamie Seaton and Cassie Hooper won the region championship and reached the Elite 8 round of the Girls’ Sweet 16.
The first quarter of the night belonged to Tyah White. The Lady Storm sophomore was dominant in the first quarter, scoring the first five points of the game and 11 in the quarter. With Hopkinsville having trouble getting shots to fall, the Lady Storm were able to run out to a quick 11-2 lead.
A couple of first quarter 3-pointers from Kahtahvia Fleming and LaShanti Wilson stemmed the tide for a bit as Hopkinsville ended the first quarter trailing 16-9.
As the second quarter started, Hopkins Central very nearly delivered an early knockout. With guards Addie Menser and Kenzleigh Harrison providing the energy, the Lady Storm opened the second quarter with a 15-3 blitz that left the Lady Tigers down 31-12 and desperately looking for some answers on both ends of the court.
Hopkinsville cranked up the defensive pressure late in the half and started getting a few shots to fall. A 7-2 run to close out the half brought the Lady Tigers to within 33-19 at the half.
Both teams were batting turnover issues in the first 16 minutes. Hopkins County Central had 9 first-half turnovers while Hopkinsville had seven.
The Lady Storm also did an outstanding job containing region player of the year Shiyah Forte in the first half, limiting Forte to just one point on one made free throw.
Just as it looked as if the Hopkinsville Lady Tigers might be able to build a little momentum from their first-half finish, the second half got underway. Then, it was ‘not so much.’ The momentum Hopkinsville built up at the end of the half evaporated quicker than the morning dew on a Kentucky summer morning.
After the two teams traded baskets to start the third, making it 35-21, the bottom completely fell out on the Hopkinsville Lady Tigers and their hopes of making it to the regional championship game.
The Lady Storm finished the third quarter by outscoring the Lady Tigers 12-0 to take a 47-21 lead into the final eight minutes of the game.
While Kenzleigh Harrison scored just three points in the third, what she did in terms of providing a big boost to her team was immeasurable. Her defensive effort, rebounding, and energy were a big part of the Lady Storm being able to put the game away in the quarter.
Hopkinsville made a quick run to cut the lead to 16 early in the fourth quarter, but on this night there would be no ‘calming the storm’, as Hopkins Central cut the rally off and finished off the 20-point win.
Tyah White led the way for Hopkins County Central with 21 points. She was one of four Lady Storm players to hit double figures. She also had 8 rebounds for the night. Calajia Mason finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds. Addie Menser and Kenzleigh Harrison added 10 points each. Braylee Marsh had just 4 points but pulled down 14 rebounds.
For Hopkinsville, LaShanti Wilson was the leading scorer with 13 points. Alicia Davis contributed with 11 points and 9 rebounds.
One of the stories of the night was the job that Hopkins County Central did defensively on Shiyah Forte. Forte was held to just four points, all of them coming on free throws. She was a force on the boards, pulling down 18 rebounds in the game.
Hopkinsville’s season ends at 12-10.
Hopkins County Central improves to 20-14 and moves on to Saturday night’s championship game to fave 5-time defending champion Henderson County. That game tips off at 7 pm at Trigg County High School.
HCCHS — 16 17 14 15 – 62
HHS — 9 10 2 21 – 42
Hopkins County Central – White 21, Mason 13, Menser 10, Harrison 10, Marsh 4, Cotton 2, Howard 2
Hopkinsville – Wilson 13, Davis 11, Fleming 6, Sharber 6, Forte 4, Murray 2
