The Christian County Lady Colonels pressed their way into first place in the girls’ District 8 basketball standings with a dominating 66-33 win over visiting Hopkinsville Friday night.
It was the final meeting between the old rivals at Lyle Dunbar Gym as the two schools will consolidate next year.
That didn’t matter Friday night as the Lady Colonels (6-6, 1-0) were all business, holding the Lady Tigers without a field goal until 22 seconds left in the first quarter. The Lady Colonels’ pressure was relentless and limited the Lady Tigers from getting into their offense.
Behind the play of senior guards Adryona Smith and Anaysia Bagwell and the defense of Neziah Bell, Christian County bolted out to a 15-3 lead after one quarter.
Laelah Watkins kept the Lady Tigers in the game with five of her team’s eight points in the second quarter as Hopkinsville was within striking distance at the break, 25-11.
Lady Colonels’ coach Kiki Radford challenged her team at halftime and whatever she said worked. The defense created turnover after turnover and the Lady Colonels outscored Hoptown 29-11 to take a 54-22 lead into the final period.
Genesis McGee, who sat out most of the first half with foul issues, scored 10 points in the period and finished the night with 15 for Christian County.
The running clock went into effect about halfway through the fourth quarter and the Lady Colonels were able to empty their bench in the final minutes.
Bagwell led Christian County with 19 points and Carliah Hobson added 11.
Hopkinsville (1-9, 1-1) was paced by Watkins’ 12 points.
Christian County was scheduled to play at Heritage Christian Academy on Saturday, but HCA officials announced Friday afternoon that the Lady Warriors would forfeit the game and would not participate in the postseason tournament. The Lady Colonels are off until Jan. 20 when they play host to Henderson County.
Meanwhile, Hopkinsville, which has now lost six straight games, will see Henderson County Monday night in Henderson.
Score by Quarters:
Hopkinsville 3 8 11 11 – 33
Christian Co. 15 10 29 12 – 66
Individual Scoring:
HHS (1-9, 1-1) – Kav. White 8, Ewing 9, Gaines 2, Watkins 12, Allensworth 2.
CCHS (6-6, 1-0) – A. Bell 2, George 3, Smith 8, Bagwell 19, Hobson 11, McGee 15, Hickman 4, N. Bell 4.
3-Point Goals: HHS – Kav. White 2, Watkins 2; CCHS – George, Bagwell 3, McGee.
Photos by Peyton Biaquis