With the gym at West Jessamine High School not much warmer than the weather outside, the Heritage Christian Academy girls struggled to put points on the board, falling 46-25 to Oak Ridge Christian on Thursday night in the KCAA state tournament. The Lady Warriors’ season comes to an end at the hands of Oak Ridge for the second year in a row, while they move on to the next round to face the winner of North Hardin and Community Christian.
A Logan Gibson bucket and a Kinley Deason free throw were the only points of the opening quarter, and the Lady Warriors trailed 11-3 after one.
Hannah Jones led the way for Oak Ridge in the first with 4 points, while Delaney Cooper knocked down two 3-pointers in the second to help them to a 24-5 advantage at the halftime break.
Hallie Zieg came off the bench to drill a 3 and hit 3 of 4 free throws after the break for HCA, with Ashton Craft also connecting from behind the arc. The Lady Warriors got to within 14, but trailed by 17 with a quarter to play.
As they’ve shown all season, there’s no quit in the HCA girls, and Thursday night was no different. Zieg led the attack again, with her second 3-pointer of the quarter pulling the Lady Warriors to within 13 with 5:15 to play. However, Bailey Duggins tossed in 8 of her 11 over the final eight minutes to seal the victory for Oak Ridge.
Zieg finished with 12, matching Oak Ridge’s Hannah Jones, while Gibson scored a basket each quarter to finish with 8 for HCA. Oak Ridge’s Cooper led all scorers with 13.
