The Henderson County Lady Colonels held off the Lyon County Lady Lyons Tuesday night in Mortons Gap, 49-46, in the Region 2 Tournament quarterfinals at Hopkins County Central High School.
The game was tight from start to finish. Henderson led 11-10 after the first quarter and 23-22 at halftime. Lyon built a four-point lead late in the third, but Maggee Melvin buried a three in the closing seconds to cut the deficit to 34-33 heading into the fourth.
Melvin opened the final period with a baseline drive to give Henderson the lead, and fellow sophomore Jersey Gardner followed with a corner three to put the Lady Colonels up 38-34 with six minutes remaining, capping an 8-0 run. Gardner added another three later in the quarter, and JaNyla Locher calmly went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the final minute to secure the win.
Henderson shot 6-10 from the free-throw line and 7-20 from three-point range — including 5-10 in the second half. Lyon finished 6-9 at the line but was held to just 1-9 from beyond the arc after averaging seven made threes per game entering the night. The Lady Colonels forced 22 turnovers while committing just five. Lyon’s advantage on the glass — 45-29 overall — kept the game close, especially with offensive rebounds.
The Henderson defense was outstanding, holding Lyon to nearly 20 points below its season scoring average.
Locher led the way with a career-high 18 points and 3 rebounds. A’Tylia Green and Melvin each added 9 points and 3 rebounds. Gardner scored 6 points on two clutch fourth-quarter threes. Addy Gish finished with 5 points and a team-high 7 rebounds from the point guard spot, while Callie Burnett added 2 points and 5 rebounds.
Henderson advances to face the Hopkins County Central Lady Storm in the semifinals Friday at 7:30 p.m. Crittenden County and Caldwell County will meet in the 6 p.m. semifinal.
(WSON photos by Dan Thompson)
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