Henderson County swarms Marshall County for convincing Girls’ Sweet 16 win
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2025 Girls’ Sweet 16 coverage
Click below to read all of the coverage from Kentucky.com and the Lexington Herald-Leader during the Girls’ Sweet 16 state basketball tournament in Rupp Arena.
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Henderson County’s pressing, trapping defense sparked the Colonels to a wire-to-wire 45-30 win against Marshall County in Thursday’s first round of the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Girls’ Basketball Sweet 16 state tournament at Rupp Arena.
Henderson County (28-5) imposed its will over the Marshals early, jumping to a 12-4 first quarter lead thanks to eight Marshall County turnovers. By the finish, the Colonels had 13 steals, 20 Marshals turnovers and 20 points off of them.
A’Tylia Green helped lead the way with a pair of steals, a block, an assist and five of those points during the first-quarter run.
“When I get the first turnover and I know I can get them going, I feel like it keeps being contagious,” said Green, who finished with 11 points and five steals.
Though the western Kentucky programs had not faced each other this year, 2nd Region champ Henderson County and 1st Region champ Marshall County (25-7) are well acquainted. Marshall knocked Henderson out of the 2021 Girls’ Sweet 16 semifinals.
“We’re definitely familiar with them and what they do,” Haile said. “You know, I was part of the staff that in 2021 when we lost to him in the Final Four, so that one still had a little bit of a sour taste in my mouth. So it’s good to get this one tonight.
Haile praised his team’s defensive effort, especially in the first and third quarter. The Colonels had their lead slip to 21-17 at half but came out with purpose in the third quarter. Three steals helped fuel an 8-0 run to start the third quarter.
“Our defense really won us the game today,” Haile said. “I think our physicality and our press bothered them and tired them out.”
When JaNyla Locher grabbed the fifth steal of the third period to yield yet another fast-break layup by Green, Henderson County’s advantage swelled to 37-21 with eight minutes to play.
“We knew it was going to be an issue with the pressure, honestly,” said Marshall County coach Aaron Beth, whose team was picked to finish at best fourth in their region but reeled off 13 wins in their last 14 games to emerge as champions. “At halftime, to just be down four after having 14 turnovers and going 3-for-11 from three, I was happy and pleased. The third quarter killed us. That relentless pressure — I give them a lot of credit — watching film, we knew they were never going to give up.”
Marshall County was led by senior Skylar Waller’s eight points. Brooklyn Gibson paced the Colonels with 15 points. Allyson Rideout added nine.
Henderson County’s seven straight state tournament appearances rank as the longest streak among teams in this year’s field. In that time, the Colonels have advanced to the semifinals twice. They made the quarterfinals last year.
They know defense like they displayed Thursday will be the key to advancing further.
“We just keep doing what we’ve been doing all season,” senior forward Anna Kemp said. “We work really hard on defense. We take pride in that. So, we’re just going to keep working on that, forcing turnovers and getting easy baskets to get us going.”
This story was originally published March 13, 2025 at 9:33 PM.
