As they enter one of the most talented fields of any girls’ basketball tournament taking place between the holidays, Owensboro Catholic will look to rebound from their second big loss of the season.
The Lady Aces open play in the LaRosa’s Holiday Classic at Conner High School today against Pleasure Ridge Park. Other teams in the tournament are Highlands, Henry Clay, Ashland Blazer, Simon Kenton, St. Ursula Academy (Ohio) and host Conner.
The Lady Aces will return to action after playing a pair of games Saturday. They won their first game of the day in the Owensboro Invitational Tournament with a decisive victory over a top 1st region team in Calloway County. In the OIT championship later that night, though, the offense never found their usual rhythm and had their worst outing of the year in a 53-34 loss to defending 2nd Region champion Webster County.
“I thought (Saturday) morning we looked really good,” said Catholic head coach Michael Robertson. “We followed the game plan to a T. Offensively we weren’t the best, but we played really good defense and did exactly what we wanted to do.”
During the loss to the undefeated Lady Trojans, the flow went much the same way it did in the Lady Aces’ season opener — a 66-45 loss to Castle, a highly-ranked team in Indiana coming off a year with only a single loss.
Robertson said there were several similarities in the two games, namely the physicality with which both opponents played.
“When people body us, we pull back instead of trying to go through,” he said. “That’s the first thing I noticed when we played Castle, and we’re still fighting that.”
It’s not for lack of size, as the Catholic roster has plenty of height, so Robertson said the girls have to keep working and get meaner on offense.
The Catholic offense unquestionably runs through senior guard Mackenzie Keelin, who averages 16.0 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. She also ranks 24th in the state with 2.6 3-pointers per game and third in the state in free throw percentage at 89.5.
She’s got plenty of help — both from starters and off the bench — most of which comes from junior forward Hannah McKay (11.7 points, 6.2 rebounds per game) and senior forward Sarah Beth Clemens (9.4 points, 4.3 rebounds per game).
Despite a couple of letdowns this season and a handful of stretches with limited points, the team offense still ranks 17th in field goal percentage (45.6), 32nd in free throw percentage (66.0) and 13th in 3-point percentage (37.5).
The defense has largely imposed its will, allowing 44.4 points per game, and it is often what sparks big scoring runs. When the Lady Aces are able to get blocks and force turnovers, their transition offense can blow a game open.
When they haven’t been able to establish that quick pace, it has at times led to scoring droughts that allow teams to hang around and stay within striking distance.
In a field that includes some of the top teams in the state, Catholic will need to stay focused and play with purpose. Robertson said when his players are completely unselfish and share the ball, they tend to find the open shot and are hard to stop.
Saturday night, though, showed what happens when they get off track.
“Sometimes, just like (against Webster County) when they put pressure on us, our thought process is, ‘let’s rip and try to go by them’ — we don’t really have a purpose,” he said. “We’ve got to have a plan. That’s what we’ve been trying to teach them. You can attack, but you’ve got to attack with a plan and know what you’re going to do if they help.”
