Lady Colonels advance to regional semifinals

The Christian County Lady Colonels advanced to the Girls’ Region 2 Basketball Tournament semifinals with a 70-51 win over Madisonville-North Hopkins Tuesday night at Lyle Dunbar Gym.

Anaysia Bagwell led Christian County with 23 points. Lazarie Daniel added 15 and Carliah Hobson had 10 as the Lady Colonels improved to 18-9 on the season.

Christian County coach Kiki Radford said her team’s goal is to reach Rupp Arena and Tuesday night was just step one of that goal.

Although the Lady Colonels led most of the way, they weren’t able to put the Lady Maroons away until late in the game.

An early 16-1 run gave Christian County an 18-5 lead, but Madisonville (15-11) began chipping away and cut the score to 36-27 at halftime. Lady Maroons’ senior guard Riley Sword hit three 3-pointers and Kailey Barber added another in the period.

Things really got interesting in the third quarter as Lady Colonels’ star forward Ne’Vaeh Day was whistled for a technical foul for delay of game. Christian County coach Kiki Radford pulled her star out of the game and she never returned.

Bagwell, Daniel, and Hobson picked up the slack as the trio combined for 26 second-half points for the Lady Colonels.

Christian County led 51-41 entering the final quarter but Madisonville stayed within striking distance until late. Amari Northington, Genesis McGee and Bagwell had baskets down the stretch to give the Lady Colonels their largest lead at 70-51.

Sword led Madisonville with 18 points and Barber had nine.

Christian County will play Crittenden County in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Lady Rockets defeated Union County in the second quarterfinal game Tuesday night 46-39. Six-time defending region champion Henderson County will take on Hopkins County Central in Friday’s first game at 6 p.m. Airtime is 5:55 p.m. on 95.3 The Farm.

Score By Quarters:

Madisonville-N.H. 11 16 14 10 – 51

Christian County 25 11 15 19 – 70

Individual Scoring:

MNHHS (15-11) – Nelson 8, Johnson 4, Sword 18, Barber 9, Kirk 5, Bryant 7.

CCHS (18-9) – Northington 4, Anderson 5, Bagwell 23, Day 9, Hobson 10, McGee 2, Daniel 15, Bradley 2.

3-Point Goals: MNNHS – Nelson, Sword 4, Barber 2; CCHS – Bagwell 4, Daniel.

Photos by Peyton Biaquis