On Saturday night, basketball fans flocked to Kendall-Perkins Park to witness some of the tristate’s finest basketball during the 51st running of the Owensboro Dust Bowl.
The Nugget Topperz ran away with the high school title, while Baptown narrowly defeated its cross-town foe Mechanicsville 49-43. In the men’s open, KWC Neighborhood came out on top 63-60 over Supreme Auto Clean.
In the open game, Jones led all scorers with 20 points, followed by McIntire with 13. Carbon led Supreme Auto Clean with 17.
Both teams exchanged leads several times early, but Supreme Auto Clean led 30-24 at the half. The Neighborhood put together a 27-6 run to start the second half and gained a sizeable lead. Supreme Auto Clean responded with a 26-point fourth quarter, but that wasn’t enough for the win.
Travis Owsley came out of retirement for the OG game to help lead Baptown to a big win over Mechanicsville, securing bragging rights for the next year. Owsley pieced together all eight of his points late to help Baptown prove away, proving to the fans and the heckling emcee that he could still hoop.
Mechanicsville’s attack was balanced, with Barnes, Taylor, Adams, Harris, and Skeno all finding the scoring column. Baptown hit six 3s in the first half to hold a 32-27 lead at the half but went cold in the second half and struggled to hang on.
It was all Johnathan Moss in the high school championship, as the Daviess County guard tallied a tournament-high 34 points for the Nugget Topperz. His teammate Hughes followed with 22, while Acton added another 19.
The Nugget Topperz jumped out to a 46-40 lead at the half and never looked back. As fatigue set in for the Big Game Generals, the Toppers launched an onslaught of transition points to run away with the game.
Sanders led the Generals in scoring with 17, followed by Max with 10.
The Owensboro Dust Bowl, which began in 1974, was the brainchild of Jerry Davenport, Gus Johnson, and Felix Thruston. The three saw it as an opportunity to offer the black community organized sports while unifying folks from all walks of life through basketball.
The Owensboro Times documented the tournament’s history here.
