The Christian County Lady Colonels dropped their third in a row to wrap up the regular season, falling 68-56 to visiting Henderson County on Thursday night. The Lady Colonels now sit at 19-7, while Henderson improves to 13-11. The Christian County had not lost to 2nd Region competition all season, but back to back losses to Webster and Henderson leave them at 10-2.
Junior guard Bianna Snorton nailed a three pointer to stake the Lady Colonels to an early 7-0 lead, and after a runner by junior guard Kinara Phillips, the lead was 14-6 with 2:25 left in opening quarter. A basket by senior center Trinitee Jackson gave the Lady Colonels their first double-digit lead at 18-8, but Henderson closed on a 4-0 run to cut the lead 10 18-12 heading into the second quarter. Snorton and Jackson accounted for 12 of Christian County’s 18 points.
Henderson opened the second frame on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 18, taking advantage of Christian County turnovers. County scored the next 4, before back to back Henderson three pointers provided it’s first lead of the game at 24-22 with 3:33 to play in the half. Senior guard LaDeria Gold, named Homecoming Queen before the game, knocked down a three and Jackson scored on a coast to coast layup to give the Lady Colonels back the lead at 27-24. However, they wouldn’t score again, and Henderson closed the half on a 10-0 spree to take a 34-27 halftime lead.
Jackson led the Lady Colonels with 10 points, followed by Snorton with 6, and freshman forward Trinity McGee with 4. For Henderson, sophomore guard Emilee Hope scored 14,with junior forward Alyssa Dickson and senior guard Jalee Carter scoring 6 each.
Henderson opened the second half with a three, but the Lady Colonels’ McGee answered with 6 straight to trim the lead to a basket at 37-35. With four minutes left in the quarter, sophomore forward Eniya McGee hit a jumper to knot the game at 39. After an offensive foul on Henderson, McGee scored again to cut the lead to 1 at 44-43 with :40 on the clock. Once again, Henderson closed the quarter on a run, scoring the last 4 to lead 48-43 with eight minutes to play.
Henderson began the final quarter on a 7-2 run to again push the lead to double figures at 55-45 with 5:02 to play. Gold and Phillips answered with three pointers, but Henderson scored the next 6 to take another double-figure lead. Jackson scored, and Henderson left the door open with a turnover and two front-end misses, but Christian County couldn’t take advantage. The Lady Colonels were forced to continue fouling, and Henderson sealed the game by going 7 of 8 from the line over the last 1:15. After only shooting 4 free throws in the loss to Webster County on Tuesday, Christian County didn’t manage any attempts on Thursday. Snorton closed the scoring with a three pointer, and Henderson ran out the clock to claim the 68-56 win.
Jackson’s 16 points paced Christian County, followed by Trinity McGee with 14. Snorton finished with 9, Gold and Eniya McGee had 6 each, and Phillips added 5. Dickson scored 26 for Henderson, including 9 in the third quarter and 11 in the fourth. Hope finished with 20, and Carter and 8th grade guard Kaytlan Kemp both scored 8.
Christian County will open play in the 8th District tournament with a match-up with Fort Campbell (0-22) on Monday night at Colonel Gym. The Lady Colonels beat the Lady Falcons on both occasions in the regular season.