The Owensboro Catholic boys’ basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak in convincing fashion, pulling away in the second half for an 87-51 home victory over Trinity on Tuesday.
The Aces (10-5) only went 17-for-35 at the free throw line, but their defense caused problems all night for the Raiders (8-6).
Neither team was able to get the offense settled early, but several trips to the line at both ends allowed them to reach a 16-11 score in favor of Catholic heading into the second quarter.
A pair of baskets each by John Parker and Ji Webb were part of a run that pushed the lead to 28-16 early midway through the period. Back-to-back scores by Ethan Howard capped a Trinity response cutting the deficit to 5 points, but Catholic answered and went into the break with a 35-27 lead.
Aces’ head coach Tim Riley said after a sloppy start, his team had to get focused.
“We talked to our guys at halftime about our effort,” he said. “Once we started playing a little harder, we started making some more plays.”
The renewed energy allowed Catholic to open the second half on a 20-4 run, and the Raiders were never able to close the gap. Riley said it was good to get a big win after falling in three close games.
“We’ve had a really tough run here,” he said. “We’ve lost to some really good teams. It’s good to play well and score some points and not have it be a battle until the end.”
Catholic will return to action Saturday at 3 p.m., playing in the semifinal of the 3rd Region All “A” Classic. They will play the winner of McLean County and host Hancock County.
Trinity will play in the opening round of the same tournament Thursday, staying home to face Edmonson County at 7:30 p.m.
SCORING
Owensboro Catholic 16-19-33-19–87
Trinity 11-16-9-15–51
Owensboro Catholic: Ji Webb 16, Peyton Survant 13, John Parker 11, Drew Hartz 8, Andrew Riney 9, Brian Griffith 9, Ty Vincent 5, Zach Cecil 4, Ryan Ogle 4, Sam McFarland 4, E Munsey 2, Logan Jones 2
Trinity: Trenton Morris 15, Ethan Howard 10, Landon Hall 7, Will Edge 6, Owen Payne 3, Devin Rhinerson 3, Kevin Foster 3, Cade Mills 2, Landon Huff 2
