Playing at their home arena to kick off the girls’ All A Classic State Tournament, Owensboro Catholic started the day with a dominating 67-26 win over Pineville. They will host Owen County in the second round on Friday at 8:30 AM.
From tip-off, the Lady Aces defense suffocated the Lady Lions, holding them to 13 points in the first half and scored 42 points off of turnovers.
“We did a good job of taking care of the ball, and we did a good job of getting up and down the court,” Owensboro Catholic Head Coach Michael Robertson said. “We didn’t do a great job in our halfcourt offense, and we need to get better there.”
The Lady Aces had four of their five starters finish in double-digits, with Taylor Mannahan leading the way. The junior filled the stat sheet and was just short of a triple-double, as she finished with 12 points, eight steals, seven assists, and five rebounds.
“I am really proud of her and the way she’s played,” Robertson said. “She’s starting to see her teammates, and she had one turnover. A 7:1 turnover ratio, I will take all day.”
Claudia Munsey found her three-point shot early, finishing 4-7 from deep, to go along with her 14 points, three, rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Layla Martin shot 6-10 from the field to go along with her 14 points, four steals, and +/- of 36.
Katie Hagan was close to a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing a game-high eight rebounds.
“She did a great job and was very active on the boards,” Robertson said. “Her and Sophia. They have been doing a good job and Katie has been playing very good basketball.”
In the fourth quarter, Robertson was able to go deeper into his bench to allow some of the younger girls playing time, with Hallie Boarman taking advantage.
“Hallie got her a bucket,” Robertson said. “That was pretty cool, and a lot of her classmates were here to watch it. They went crazy for it, so that was fun. Not only that, but it made the score 67, so I had to listen to that.”
Facing off against Owen County in the quarterfinals, the Lady Aces will need to be ready for Kylee Steffen. In her team’s opening round win over Morgan County, she scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while shooting 6-13 from deep.
