The Henderson County Lady Colonels have begun to hit their stride as they get into the thick of district and regional play. After routing Union County 68-17, the Lady Cols have now won seven of their first eight games in the new year.
On Friday night, Henderson used stifling defense to get out to a huge first quarter lead against district rival Union County. The Bravettes could hardly get the ball into the front court as the Lady Cols forced seven straight turnovers and jumped out to a 14-0 lead to start the game. For the quarter, the Lady Cols scored 24 points at the rim before Addy Gish sank a three pointer near the end of the period to open up a 27-4 lead after one.
There was no looking back as Henderson knocked down three more three pointers in the second quarter, one each from Gish, Jersey Gardner and JaNyla Locher. As a team, they shot 4-for-8 from downtown in the first half on their way to a commanding 41-12 lead at the intermission.
Locher led all scorers for the game with 14 points, while Gish was next on the team with 13.
“We created a lot of offense out of our defense and caused quite a few turnovers and some layups for us,” said head coach Stephen Haile. “We knocked some threes down in the first half which is huge for us against their zone. If we shoot the ball well, we are really dangerous.”
The starters came back out for the second half, but were not in long before many of the younger reserves got into the game and into the scoring column. Sophomore Nevaeh Dixon scored eight points off the bench. In the fourth quarter, freshman Pacey Parker collected four points, sophomore Saylor Brown scored two, while freshman McKinley Black added one.
“You just enjoy a district win. They don’t always come that easy. It’s good to get some of your other kids some playing time, especially in a district game with the big crowd tonight,” said Haile.
Union County would manage only five total points in the second half.
With the win, Henderson moved to 13-7 on the season while Union County fell to 5-12. HCHS is also undefeated in district play (2-0) and region play (3-0) so far.
Other scorers for the Lady Colonels included Magee Melvin with eight, Jersey Gardner with seven, A’Tylia Green with six, Bella Estabrook with three, and Kenley Evans with two.
Green was honored before the game for joining the 1,000 point club earlier this season.
Henderson County will return to action on Monday evening in Colonel Gym against Hopkinsville at 7:30 pm, weather permitting.
“We don’t have that many opportunities left, so we’ve got to take advantage of every one of them,” said Haile. “It’s trending the way I hoped it would…We’ve got enough pieces to be a region title contender for sure.”
Recent Lady Colonels games:
Henderson 49 Bowling Green 36 (Jan. 10)
HCHS picked up a home win over Bowling Green, 49-36, back in early January. A’Tylia Green scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds. Addy Gish contributed 11 points, shooting 7-for-8 from the free throw line.
Daviess County 54 Henderson County 50 (Jan. 13)
The Lady Cols’ only loss in the 2026 calendar year so far came at the hands of the Daviess County Panthers in a hard-fought 54-50 game. The third region favorites were able to hold off Henderson with clutch free throw shooting in the fourth quarter.
Green was the leading scorer with 15 points, while Callie Burnett dropped 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting. JaNyla Locher added 11 points.
Henderson 53 Breckinridge County 47 (Jan. 16)
Henderson nearly squandered a fourth quarter lead as it fell behind by one near the end of the game, but was able to pull away with a 53-47 win over a tough team from Breckinridge County.
Green led the way with 24 points and nine rebounds. Locher added eight points, while Jersey Gardner and Gish added eight and seven points, respectively.
Henderson 52 Christian County 40 (Jan. 20)
The Lady Colonels picked up a region win against Christian County, 52-40, this past Tuesday. Green led all scorers with 18, while Gish, who has come on offensively as of late, added 13 points and had a team-high six rebounds.
