Clinging to a 15-12 lead after the first quarter, Owensboro Catholic’s Claudia Munsey caught fire in the second, hitting two threes and scoring eight of her team-high 14 points. Munsey’s sharpshooting opened up looks for her teammates, culminating in the Lady Aces ending the final three quarters on a 39-28 run.
The results – a 54-40 win over McLean County and the program’s fifth straight 3rd Region All A title. A major tipping point in the game came at the start of the second quarter when the Lady Aces switched out of their zone defense.
“We quit letting them get wide-open shots. We were able to get out and guard their shooters, and made them put the ball on the floor,” Owensboro Catholic Head Coach Michael Robertson said. “When they put the ball on the floor, we were in help.”
A three-point first quarter deficit for the Lady Cougars quickly ballooned into a 12-point hole at halftime, which McLean County Head Coach Elli Ellis attributed to mental errors.
In the fourth quarter, the Lady Aces started to take their foot off the gas and allowed McLean County to rediscover their rhythm, something Robertson wants to see his team fix moving forward.
Sophia Newby was second on Owensboro Catholic in scoring with 11 points, and Taylor Mannahan finished with 10 points.
For the Lady Cougars, Karlee Floyd hit a pair of threes to go along with her game-high 16 points and Ella Larkin added 13 points.
“The big thing coming into this game was we were trying to show growth and improvement from last year,” Ellis said. “We knew we had a chance to beat them, but it had to be with intensity and effort. You could tell we got a little fast early on with our age and inexperience, but we battled.”
The Lady Cougars return to action on Thursday when they travel to Grayson County, and Owensboro Catholic will be at Owensboro on Friday.
Aces cruise past Cougars
Even without their starting point guard Solly Smith, who was sidelined, Owensboro Catholic quickly took control of the game and never relinquished control. They suffocated McLean County’s early offensive attempts, and rode their transition attack to a 59-32 win and a 3rd Region All A title.
“We just put four quarters of effort together. We’ve been a two or three quarter type of team,” Owensboro Catholic Head Coach Tabor Shadowen said. “Part of our process right now is that we have a lot of sophomores and juniors who are playing a lot of varsity basketball that they have never played before. They’re in roles that they have not played, and they are learning the effort and intensity level they need to play at. Tonight, they put forward four quarters together.”
Only leading 11-5 after the first quarter, Jake Murphy, Dylan Hagan, and Gavin Brahser took over in the second, combining for all 18 of the Aces’ points. Up 29-11 at halftime, Owensboro Catholic continued to pour it on, outscoring the Cougars 24-8 in the third quarter.
Murphy was the catalyst, scoring 10 of his game-high 17 points in the third, including drilling a pair of threes.
“Jake plays so hard. He is a coach’s dream,” Shadowen said. “He started tonight 0-7, and I wouldn’t have believed that because he was all over the court and floor. He rebounded well and is such a spark for us.”
Murphy also grabbed seven rebounds, while Dre’Mail Carothers finished with five points and seven boards. Hagan was second on the Aces in scoring with 15 points, and Myles Grant and Braylon Coots both recorded eight points.
For the Cougars, Layden Bozarth scored a team-high 10 points, Jaelin Groves added eight points, and Will Gatton and Gavin Mauzy both recorded four points.
The Aces return on Wednesday when they host Meade County, and the Cougars are off until Friday, when they travel to Breckinridge County.
