The Aces are headed to the Sweet 16 for just the second time in school history, and what a stunning performance they used Tuesday night to punch their ticket.
Aggressive and dominant from the first possession, Owensboro Catholic (21-14) quickly built a double-digit lead and kept their distance the rest of the way to knock off defending champion Owensboro 56-45 to claim the 3rd Region title.
The Aces pulled out all the stops — literally and figuratively — using some new defensive sets to frustrate the Red Devils (21-11).
“We played two different defenses that we hadn’t played all year long just to try to slow them down,” Catholic head coach Tim Riley said. “We wanted them to spend more time on the offensive end. The more trips against them, the more fatigued we get. They get to run a whole lot more bodies at us than we get to run at them.”
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For more photos from the game, click here.
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The Aces attacked the paint in the first quarter, scoring their first 16 points on shots inside 10 feet. Andrew Riney scored back-to-back buckets with pump fakes down low, Brian Griffith added a runner in the lane, then Gray Weaver and Ji Webb hit short jumpers during a 10-0 run that pushed Catholic’s lead to 14-4.
“They’ve been blocking shots like crazy,” Riley said of Owensboro. “We kept saying if you’ll get there and shot fake it, they’re going to fly and something good is going to happen.”
Drew Hartz drilled a 3-pointer for their first outside basket, and it pushed their advantage to 19-8 by the end of the first quarter.
The biggest lead of the first half came with 6:00 to go, when a steal by Riney at one end led to a 3 by Griffith at the other for a 25-10 advantage.
Owensboro quickly got a pair of free throws from Gavin Wimsatt and a score from Jaiden Greathouse, and Kenyata Carbon scored on a drive that cut the deficit to 25-16 with 3:43 left in the second quarter.
Catholic ended the half in dramatic fashion. Webb blocked a shot with less than 10 seconds on the clock, then Griffith quickly pushed the ball up the court drained a 3-point floater as time expired for a 30-17 halftime lead.
The Aces took their biggest lead of the game early in the third quarter. Weaver hit a pair of technical free throws, then sank a 3-pointer to put them up 35-19 with 4:45 left.
Owensboro cut the deficit in half over the next few minutes. Amari Wales and Imonte Owsley each scored four points, and a traditional three-point play from Wimsatt had them within 38-30 with 1:00 still to play in the third.
Hartz knocked down a 3-pointer eight seconds later, and the Aces entered the fourth quarter up 43-34.
Wimsatt scored on a putback to get the Red Devils within seven points to start the fourth quarter, but they could never draw any closer.
The teams largely traded buckets the rest of the way. Owensboro’s last chance to make a run came after Greathouse scored off an offensive rebound, but they still trailed 51-43 with 2:40 to go.
Webb scored to push the lead back to 10, the Red Devils had a couple of empty possessions, and Griffith iced the game with a pair of free throws that put Catholic up 55-43 with 49.8 to play.
Wimsatt led Owensboro’s effort with 11 points, while Carbon added 10.
It was a balanced attack for Catholic, with all five starters reaching double figures. Griffith led with 12, Hartz and Webb scored 11, and Riney and Weaver each added 10.
Riley was ecstatic for his Aces, who lost to Owensboro in each of the first three meetings this season.
“It’s a great win,” he said. “Nobody has any more respect for what (Owensboro’s) program has done over the course of Kentucky high school basketball history. To beat them, I’m just very pleased and very happy for all of Owensboro Catholic.”
Owensboro Catholic now moves on to the first round of the state tournament, where they’ll play at 12:30 p.m. March 19 against 15th Region champion Martin County (22-12).
“It’s such a great deal to make it,” Riley said. “We had so many battles during the year. Just to keep a group of guys together, it is an unbelievable feeling.”
BOX SCORE
OHS 8-9-17-11—45
OCHS 19-11-13-13—56
OHS (45): Gavin Wimsatt (11), Kenyata Carbon (10), Amari Wales (7), Jaiden Greathouse (7), Imonte Owsley (4), Tucker Hagan (4), Isaac Humphrey (2)
OCHS (56): Brian Griffith (12), Drew Hartz (11), Ji Webb (11), Andrew Riney (10), Gray Weaver (10), Luke Scales (2)
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