CONWAY - Chloey-Rei Brown recorded Hendrix's first triple-double in twenty years and
Addison Price came off the bench to drop 26 points in her Warrior debut as Hendrix was victorious in their 2026-27 season opener in a 75-72 nail-biter versus Champion Christian.
It was a back-and-forth affair at Grove Gymnasium between the two in-state foe, as the lead changed hands 26 times over the course of the forty minutes.
Brailey Forst scored the Warriors' first two baskets, and after Champion Christian answered with back-to-back triples, Tayso Trejo fired in a three-ball off an assist from Brown to put the Warriors ahead 7-6 at 5:42.
Addison Price then scored the Warriors' next six points, finishing a fastbreak jumper off Forst's assist, hitting a 3-pointer off an assist from
Hadlie Goodson and adding a free throw to move the score to 13-7 at 3:47. Champion Christian came back with 7 unanswered to take a 14-13 lead at 1:21, but Price hit a 3-pointer off an assist from Brown with 0:33 left in the quarter to put the Warriors back in front before a late Tiger free throw left the Warriors ahead 16-15 after the first quarter.
After Champion Christian moved ahead 18-17, the Warriors put together a 10-0 run, with Forst hitting a jumper at 7:42, Trejo adding a 3-pointer and
Natalie Edmonson scoring the last five points to make it 27-18. Edmonson later added another 3-pointer and
Brooklyn Rowe hit from outside to push the Warriors to 33-22 for their largest lead of the night, but Champion Christian answered with 13 unanswered to move in front 35-33 with 2:16 left. Price put the Warriors back ahead with a 3-pointer at 1:59 and then hit another 3-pointer at 1:16 for a 39-38 lead before Rowe's two free throws and
Marlena Davis' layup closed the quarter with the Warriors ahead 43-38.
The quarter stayed tight through the early minutes, with the visitors hitting a 3-pointer at 7:20 before Brown split two free throws and the Tigers answered from 3-point range to tie the game at 44-44. Champion Christian went in front 49-44, but the Warriors answered as Trejo made a free throw, Price hit a 3-pointer and Price followed with a steal-sequence layup for a 50-49 lead at 3:03. N'Ascent Robinson put Champion Chris. back ahead with a 3-pointer, Price responded with another 3-pointer for a 53-52 Warriors lead, and Danielle Babb connected from deep to move Champion Christian back in front 55-53. Trejo closed the quarter with a layup with under 10 seconds remaing, sending the game to the fourth tied 55-55.
The Warriors trailed 59-56 early in the fourth, but Brown made three free throws and added two layups during a stretch that put the Warriors ahead 63-59. Champion Christian came back with a sequence of buckets to move in front 65-63 before Price hit a massive 3-pointer at 1:55 to give the Warriors a 66-65 lead. The teams traded the lead three more time down the stretch, with Brown answering a Champion layup with a layup of her own before a late Tigers' three put them ahead 70-69. Trejo got back to the line with under thirty seconds remaining and made both to give Hendrix the lead back. After a defensive stop at the other end,
Natalie Edmonson converted on both attempts from the stripe to give Hendrix a three-point lead late. Champion got the line with a chance to tie the game late, but could only convert on two of its three attempts. Edmonson went back to the line and once again was clutch, knocking down both free throws to seal the 75-72 win.
Price led all scorers with 26 points in her Hendrix debut. The sophomore finished 7-of-14 from behind the arc while also recording two steals defensively. Brown finished the night with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists, with 11 of those coming in the first half. It was her first-career triple-double, and the first for Hendrix since Kyra Shachmut notched a triple-double back in 2006.
Trejo also finished in double-figures in her Hendrix debut with 11, while Edmonson kicked off her senior year with 12 points and knocking down a couple triples.
As a team, Hendrix was out-scored in the paint but scored 20 points off of 19 Champion turnovers, and
The Warriors (1-0) will get a week off before heading up to Batesville for a road matchup with in-state foe Lyon.
