Prep Girls Hoops: Hawks power past Meridian for regional crown

One for the thumb!

The Gallatin County girls basketball team picked up its fifth straight regional championship late last week, knocking off Meridian 64-44 in the title game at Gallatin County High School.

A pair of Hawks showed out with double-double performances as Carly Foster poured in a game-high 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Kenzie Russell dumped in 26 points and pulled down 22 rebounds.

In addition to her 32 points, Foster went 13-for-14 from the free throw line, while as a team, Gallatin County was 17-for-26.

Meridian jumped out to an 18-11 first quarter lead, but it was Gallatin County, behind 11 points from Russel and seven from Foster that propelled the Hawks to a 20-2 second quarter and grabbing a 31-20 lead at the break.

The Hawks kept Meridian at arms length in the third quarter, outscoring the Bobcats 14-13 to take a 45-33 lead into the final eight minutes, where Gallatin County closed the game out on a 19-11 run.

Andreya Blain tacked on three for GCHS, while Baylee Nelson tossed in two and Sidney Bickett had a fourth quarter free throw.

Gallatin County (18-13) now advances to Tuesday night's 1A Sesser-Valier Sectional, where the Hawks will take on Christopher at 7:30 p.m. Prior to that Goreville will play Woodlawn at 6 p.m. The Sectional championship will be held Thursday night at 7 pm.