By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

HANCEVILLE – Josh Golden and the Thompson Lady Warriors had seen Hazel Green before. The Lady Trojans ended Thompson’s season last year on a buzzer-beater from the volleyball line in the 7A Sweet Sixteen, and beat Thompson by a point earlier this season after the Lady Warriors’ held a late, eight-point lead. The games had been close, the competition fierce. On this day, however, in the first round of the Northwest regional tournament, Thompson simply couldn’t keep pace with the defensive effort and intensity of Hazel Green, and fell by a final of 43-21.

“They were the better basketball team today,” Thompson head coach Josh Golden said after the game. “They turned up the defensive intensity and took us out of everything we wanted to do. We got outplayed and we got outcoached.”

Thompson started out well enough, opening up an early 9-5 lead on Hazel Green halfway through the third before the offensive wheels completely fell off. Hazel Green clamped down defensively; applying heavy doses of on-ball pressure, and did not allow Thompson room to breathe on offense. The Lady Trojans had speed that the Thompson simply hadn’t seen, and the Lady Warriors guards, who had been so solid all season, had serious trouble handling the pressure. After opening up the 9-5 lead, Thompson scored just five more points before the half, and trailed 23-14. Indiah Cohill had eight of Thompson’s 14 first-half points.

In the second half, Thompson scored a total of seven points, and in general couldn’t put together any sort of offensive rhythm to disrupt the pressure from the Lady Trojans, as Hazel Green rolled 43-21.

Cohill and Kahyanne Bolton, along with Jordan LeNoir, leaders for Thompson all season, were the primary recipients of the heavy pressure from Hazel Green. The three combined to commit 15 of Thompson’s season-high 20 turnovers.

“I don’t know if we’ve had 20 turnovers in two years,” Golden said. “They’ve never played us the way they did today.”

Thompson finished the season 24-8, and made an appearance in the 7A Sweet Sixteen for the second consecutive season.

“This group had a great season and has a lot to be proud of,” Golden added. “(They) won 24 basketball games, but today we just got beat.”