For the second day in a row, the Christian County girls’ basketball team suffered through a slow start, ultimately falling 75-61 to hosts Murray High at The Murray Bank Lady Tiger Classic on Friday. The loss drops the Lady Colonels to 10-4 on the year, while Murray High improves to 11-2.
After a difficult first quarter against Lincoln County on Thursday, the Lady Colonels again found themselves down big early, trailing the Lady Tigers 15-3 with 3:24 left in the opening frame. A three-pointer by junior guard Bianna Snorton cut the lead to 20-12 with less than a minute left, but a Murray three at the buzzer gave them a 25-13 lead going into the second quarter.
The Lady Tigers held a double-digit lead through much of the second quarter, until back-to-back layups by junior guard Aaliyah Hampton pulled the Lady Colonels to within 33-26 with two minutes left in the first half. However, Murray finished the quarter on a 6-2 run to lead 39-28 at the half.
Senior center Trinitee Jackson led the Lady Colonels in scoring at the half with 10, followed by Hampton’s 8.
Senior guard Laderia Gold hit a three-pointer with 4:15 left in the third quarter to get the Lady Colonels within 6 at 44-38, but the Lady Tigers steadily pushed the lead back out to 13, once again getting a basket at the buzzer to lead 55-42 after three quarters.
With 5:08 left to play, Murray took their largest lead of the game at 64-44, and while the Lady Colonels would cut it to 13, they couldn’t get any closer and lost 75-61. After being outscored by 12 in the first quarter, the Lady Colonels played Murray tough the rest of the way, scoring 48 to the Lady Tigers’ 50.
Jackson and Hampton both had 17 to lead the Lady Colonels, with Jackson being named Player of the Game. Gold scored 8, followed by junior guard Kinara Phillips with 7, freshman forward Trinity McGee with 6, and Snorton and sophomore guard Lamontavia Forte with 3 each.
The Lady Colonels will finish the tournament playing at 11:00 AM Saturday against North Hardin (3-9).
