Owensboro Catholic defeated McLean County to advance to the semi-finals of the 3rd Region All-A tournament, while Apollo cruised past Livingston Central.
Apollo 71, Livingston Central 39
The Eagles depth was on full display Saturday as 10 different players scored in their 71-39 win over Livingston Central. Landon Henning led Apollo in scoring with 12 points, eight of which came in the third quarter, while Kobe Kelly and Luke Jarboe each added nine points.
“Our defense was phenomenal tonight,” Apollo head coach Ryne Tinsley said. “Livingston has a solid offensive team and we held one of their leading scorers who averages 23 points to just two. It was a great effort from all 15 guys.”
Owensboro Catholic 66, McLean County 50
In their first-round match of the 3rd Region All-A, Owensboro Catholic’s Luke Beickman made his presence felt early and often. He was able to get to the line where he finished 7-8, score from deep hitting two threes, and finish inside. His 21 points helped the Aces top McLean County 66-50 and advance to the semi-finals where Trinity (Whitesville) awaits them.
The Aces jumped out to a 28-13 halftime lead, but the Cougars Jax Lee willed his team back into it – hitting five threes to go along with his 17 points in the third quarter. But he was held scoreless in the fourth and Owensboro Catholic was able to pull away thanks to Beickman, Waryn Ebelhar, Solly Smith, and Vince Carrico combining for 27 points in the final frame.
“Defensively we were really good except for the third quarter,” Owensboro Catholic head coach Tim Riley said. “Beickman and Ebelhar gave us 40 combined points. I think we beat a very solid McLean County team and I am glad to be back at .500 winning percentage.”
Ebelhar finished second on the Aces in scoring with 19 points, while Smith scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter. For McLean County, Camden Baird was second on the team in scoring with 13 points, while Zane Decker scored all six of his points in the fourth quarter.
“We could not hit a three the first half and we played a little timid in shooting our shots, “McLean county head coach Darren Lynam said. “We had a huge third quarter to get back in the game and cut the lead to three. But when you get down that far to a good team you have to expend so much energy coming back, it is tough to sustain it. We have beat some solid third region teams so far. It just didn’t work out tonight.”
