The Owensboro Catholic Lady Aces went toe-to-toe with the top team in the state for nearly the entire game Friday at the Sportscenter but when the dust settled, the Lady Panthers showed why they were the number one team in Kentucky.
Catholic trailed by five heading to the fourth but E’Town erupted for 21 points in the final frame to take the game 62-49.
The Lady Aces go into next week’s 9th District Tournament at 13-10 as they’ll take on Owensboro in the first round.
The Lady Panthers led after each quarter Friday but each time Elizabethtown would make a run, the Aces would hit a couple of big shots to put themselves right back in it.
Catholic coach Michael Robertson said he thought his team played well for the majority of the game and they gave the 2-3 zone of the Panthers trouble.
He said there were several things they need to clean up but he wanted to his team to do things in particular in the game.
“Play together. Fight,” he said. “ I thought we saw that. We’ve got to clean up our offensive end when it comes to man-to-man. We too much want to just break off the play instead of run the play. We’ve got to focus and execute a little more. Run plays through so we can get that easy bucket. I think we get rushed if somebody puts a little pressure on us. Instead of ball faking down and making a good, strong pass. We want to attack.”
Leah Macy led Elizabethtown with a game-high 15 points as the Lady Panthers had four players in double figures.
Kinsley Goetz was the lone Lady Ace in double digits as she finished with 10 points but Catholic had seven players score in the loss.
The Lady Aces have played several ranked teams this season including the Lady Panthers Friday along with Ryle, Marshall County, Bardstown and Bishop Brossart.
Robertson said he hopes the tough tilt help them next week.
“I think we’ve improved from the tough schedule,” he said. “I think the tough schedules going to benefit us but we won’t know until next Wednesday. As long as we can win that game on Wednesday and then see what we can do in the regional tournament. You got to win that first one Wednesday night before you can do anything. We got to get Owensboro and if we’re fortunate enough to get them and move on to the regional tournament, district championship, then let the chips fall where they may.”
The Lady Aces play Wednesday at the Owensboro Sportscenter against Owensboro at 7:45 p.m.
ELIZABETHTOWN 62, OWENSBORO CATHOLIC 49
EHS (22-0) 18 9 14 21–62
OC (13-10) 13 11 12 13–49
EHS: Kayra Freeman 11, Kiaran Dorman 14, Leah Macy 15, Brooklyn Cann 8, Kenzie Franklin 14
OC: Katie Riney 8, Hailee Johnson 6, Maddie Hayden 9, Catherine Head 2, Camille Conkright 6, Ally Maggard 8, Kinsley Goetz 10
