The Apollo E-gals welcomed 1st Region power Graves County into the Owensboro Sportscenter and after a battle for four quarters, it was the E-gals that came away the victory.
Despite a run by Graves County in the third, the E-gals took the game 51-41 and handed GC just its third loss of the season.
Apollo coach Natalie Payne said she knew Avery Myatt was going to be a concern as she dropped 21 points for Graves but the E-gals helped the rest of the GC players at bay.
“We knew that we had to focus on No. 11, she’s the key but they’re just so gritty and hard-nosed that we knew we had to match their intensity,” she said. “That was the biggest thing. We stepped up and we did for, I feel like, a whole 32 minutes. We may have had a couple lapses here and there but I felt like we were able to grind it out and we matched their physical play.”
Apollo went up 14-11 after the first and extended their lead to 25-17 heading into the break before putting away the game in the fourth quarter and holding the Lady Eagles to just five points in the frame.
Payne said it was good to have a tough opponent going into next week.
“This was a great game to go into tournament play, win or lose,” she said. “Obviously it’s great to come away with a win but when you get to tournament time, the teams in the district, we know each other so well. We know personnel, we know the ends and outs of each other so being able to be physical and withstand pressure, rebound and defend, those are all the character traits we’re trying to build upon Wednesday night with Daviess.”
Amber Dunn led the E-gals with 19 points while Kassidy Daugherty added 16 on four 3-pointers.
Daugherty lit up the arena that she hopes she’ll be playing in for the next couple of weeks.
“It’s big,” Payne said of her shooting. “She proved tonight of why she’s one of the best players in the region. She steps up during big games and will take this on her back. The great thing is, is the next night, we may have someone else do the same thing. You can’t just key in on two kids, you can’t even key in on three kids. That’s what makes us so special.”
The E-gals play Wednesday at 6 p.m. against Daviess County in the first round of the 9th District Tournament.
APOLLO 51, GRAVES COUNTY 41
GC (17-3) 10 7 19 5–41
AHS (11-6) 14 11 16 10–51
GC: Avery Myatt 21, Anna Whitaker 6, Nealey Jackson 5, Autumn Harris 2, Ellie Carter 2, Morgan Alexander 3, Addison Widelski 2
AHS: Amaya Curry 5, Shelbie Beatty 5, Zoe Floyd 6, Kassidy Daugherty 16, Amber Dunn 19
2021 basketball coverage is presented in part by Rhoads & Rhoads Attorneys at Law.
