The Christian County Lady Colonels didn’t need any reminders about what happened during the 2024 Girls’ District 8 Basketball Tournament championship game. They’ve been thinking about it every day since Hopkinsville upset the Lady Colonels to win the title a year ago.
The Lady Colonels were all business Thursday night and made sure that history wouldn’t repeat itself by defeating Hopkinsville 65-49 in the District 8 championship at Tiger Gym.
Like last year, the Lady Colonels swept Hopkinsville during the regular season. Unlike last year, the Lady Colonels jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in getting some revenge. Senior Ne’Vaeh Day and junior guard Anaysia Bagwell led the way with 17 points each. Lazarie Daniel added 16 before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Christian County coach Kiki Radford said the district title was just part of her team’s goal for the postseason.
Hopkinsville (10-12) struggled against the Lady Colonels’ defense all night. Lady Colonels’ guard Genesis McGee hounded Hoptown guards Alicia Davis and LaShanti Wilson all night.
McGee echoed her coach’s sentiments following the game.
Christian County (17-9), which hadn’t played since Feb. 17 due to weather and other cancellations, didn’t show any rust.
Daniel got the Lady Colonels off to a strong start with a 3-pointer and Christian County never trailed.
Hopkinsville was able to battle back from a 10-point deficit to knot the score at 18-18 on a basket by Lee Lee Love late in the second quarter. However, the Lady Colonels ended the half on a 7-0 run to take a 25-18 lead into the break.
Bagwell scored 10 points and Day had nine in the third quarter as Christian County outscored Hopkinsville 26-14 to take control of the game.
Hoptown coach Keith Leslie said his team was outworked by the Lady Colonels.
Day was especially tough on the Lady Tigers as she had 21 rebounds and seven blocks.
Davis, who just announced this week she had committed to Motlow State Community College, led Hopkinsville with 17 points. Love added 12 before fouling out with 2:28 to go.
Both teams will advance to the Region 2 Tournament next week at Christian County High School. The draw for the tournament is scheduled for Saturday morning and will be done through a Zoom meeting.
Score by Quarters:
Hopkinsville 8 10 14 17 – 49
Christian Co. 14 11 26 14 -65
Individual Scoring:
HHS (10-12) – Davis 17, White 3, Wilson 8, Allensworth 6, Sharber 3, Love 12.
CCHS (17-9) – Bagwell 17, Day 17, Hobson 6, McGee 3, Daniel 16, Bradley 6.
3-Point Goals: HHS – Wilson; CCHS – Bagwell 3, Daniel 2.
Photos by Joe Wilson and Peyton Biaquis