The Lady Devils defensive intensity and depth led the way throughout Tuesday’s contest, as it led to their first 3rd Region Tournament win since the 2008-09 season with a 48-36 win over Muhlenberg County 48-36 that will send them to the semifinals.
The night got off to a rough start for both teams, with freshman Unique Carter-Swanagan picking up two quick fouls for Owensboro and neither team finding the bottom of the net for the first four minutes of the game. It was Lady Devils senior Lindsey Gibson that broke the drought with a three, but the Lady Mustangs followed with one of their own to get things rolling.
Owensboro was the team that caught steam first though, as they closed the first quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 13-5 lead. The run carried well into the second thanks to the Lady Devils bench, as junior Lulu Greer, sophomore Keely Harris, senior Chandler Worth and senior Melia Moorman all chipped in on a 20-0 run that gave them a 25-5 lead with five minutes to go in the first half.
Muhlenberg County responded to a three from Gibson—her second of the night—with one of their own, but a layup from Worth on the other end served as a swift answer for Owensboro. But Muhlenberg County began to get underneath the Lady Devils’ skin to close out the first half, creating a number of turnovers to cut the deficit to 27-15 heading into the locker room.
Owensboro’s offensive struggles carried over into the third a little, but another single-digit quarter offensively for the Lady Mustangs led to a 39-21 deficit heading into the fourth. By then the Lady Devils had more than enough momentum on their side, as they were able to pull their starters with minutes to go and come away with the 48-36 3rd Region Tournament win for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
That last win was while Locher was still in high school, as he went to say just how excited he was for his team and its seniors to get to take the floor again. He felt as though Owensboro could’ve run smoother offensively at times on the night, but said defense wins championships and that the old adage stood true on Friday.
“It’s awesome,” Locher said. “I was proud of the girls. Our defense, I thought they did a tremendous job of trying to execute what we wanted. Even when Muhlenberg hit some shots, we didn’t get super down on ourselves.”
That was evident in the 20-0 first half run, while being paired with a balanced attack that had multiple contributors coming off of the bench to chip in. Worth—who led all scorers on the night with 11 points—was one of many who came in and contributed to 27 bench points and played a key role in helping the Lady Devils to another big program win.
“We’ve had people come off the bench all year long just ready to go,” Locher said. “Melia came off the bench and hit a couple threes, Lulu came in and I thought played well defensively. She hit a big three and then Chandler came in and did what she does kind of in the middle.”
Harris was also instrumental in the run, serving as another playmaker for the team when Carter-Swanagan missed time early due to foul trouble.
“We love Keely and what she can do,” Locher said. “She’s so raw and it’s hard to kind of game plan for her. Sometimes she gets a little ahead of herself and does some things, but that’s all young ladies. She came in and got to the basket. She’s not afraid to shoot the ball and she’s not afraid to compete. She did that when we really needed her too.”
The Lady Devils will now look ahead to a semifinals matchup with a 25-7 Breckinridge County team, one that they lost to 53-39 at home on Feb. 6. Knowing that they’ll have their hands full with the 11th district runner-up, Locher and company look to have a couple of strong days in practice and hope to have plenty of fans rooting them on Friday at 7:45 p.m. as Owensboro looks to continue to make this year one for the books.
“They’re always here,” Locher said. “They always make a run and they play as hard as anybody does in the region… We’re going to watch a little bit of film tonight and then we’re going to get after it the next couple of days in practice… It’s not our home court, but hopefully we can use our home city to our advantage.”
