Girls play Christian for crown at 7 p.m., Saturday
Senior guard Laken Tabor nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 22 seconds to play, putting Crittenden County ahead for good en route to a 49-44 victory over Union County in the Second Region Girls' Basketball Tournament semifinal Friday at Smithland.
After Tabor's trey, Jessi Hodge and Whitney Johnson finished off the Bravettes with four straight foul shots, sending the Lady Rockets to the regional championship game for the second time ever.
"I remember being in about fifth or sixth grade and going to the game when Jeannie Hinchee and those other girls were in the finals," said Lady Rocket coach Shannon Hodge, whose team won 20 games this year for the first time in her lengthy tenure at CCHS.
The last time Crittenden (20-8) made it to the regional championship game was 1978. The girls lost to West Hopkins that year.
"It would be great to win (Saturday) and go to state. It would be a first," Hodge said.
Tabor led the Lady Rockets with 17 points and Jessi Hodge had 16.
Rachel Hodge, Union County's Second Region Player of the Year, finished with 18 points. Tabor and Summer Courtney were charged with defending the region's best player.
The Lady Rockets play Christian County (12-11) in Saturday night's 7 p.m., championship game at Smithland. Crittenden beat Christian County in the opening round of last year's Second Region Tournament. The teams have not met this season. The winner advances to the Girls' Sweet 16 next week at Bowling Green to play the Seventh Region champion, either Louisville DuPont Manual (29-4) or Louisville Mercy (24-7).
Crittenden Scoring: Hodge 16, Brown 5, Tabor 17, Johnson 9, Head 2.
Union Scoring: Burnett 2, Dayberry 7, Houston 4, Buchanan 5, Hodge 18, Sprague 6, Chambliss 2.
Pictured above is Crittenden's Laken Tabor fighting for possession of the ball against Union County's Rachel Buchanan (25).
