Caldwell County’s girls felt like they let one get away Saturday night at Hopkins County Central.
The Lady Storm overcame a 10-point second-half deficit and won the game on a 3-pointer by sophomore Keri Reynolds with 23 seconds to play. That gave Hopkins Central a 41-40 victory in the 7th District contest. It was Reynolds’ only basket of the night.
Gabby Baxter also had a 3-pointer with 52 seconds to play to help Hopkins Central overcome a four-point hole inside the final minute.
Caldwell, now 7-7 overall and 1-1 in district play, seemed to have things in hand midway through the third quarter when it opened up a double-digit margin at 28-18.
But Hopkins Central (8-8, 1-1) countered with an 11-0 run to go up 29-28 and set up a tight battle in the fourth quarter.
Caldwell regained the lead 31-29 on two free throws by Bella McConnell and took that advantage to the final frame.
The game was tied at 31-31, 33-33 and 35-35. But Caldwell built its four-point edge when Jada Boyd found Jacey Jaggers open inside at the 1:25 mark and Jaggers then made two free throws with 1:03 to go.
After Baxter’s 3 cut the margin to one, Boyd made one of two free throws with 33 seconds left to give Caldwell a two-point lead at 40-38.
But Kiera James found Reynolds open in the corner, and Reynolds buried the game-winner.
James was the leading scorer for Hopkins Central with 11 points. Keke Ikeard had eight points and 12 rebounds while Maddie Tow added eight points and 11 boards.
Jaggers tallied 14 points to lead Caldwell. McConnell had 10 points and seven rebounds while Boyd scored eight points.
The Lady Tigers struggled at the free throw line in the tight contest, making only 16 of 30 attempts. Caldwell was just 7 of 16 at the stripe in the fourth quarter.
Caldwell’s girls have another important district road game coming up on Tuesday when they travel to Madisonville-North Hopkins for a girls and boys doubleheader.