Speed, defense key in Red Devils’ recent success

January 7, 2019 | 12:04 am

Updated January 7, 2019 | 12:05 am

Illustration by The Owensboro Times

They don’t necessarily have an intimidating physical presence on the court, but the Owensboro boys’ basketball team has proven they can’t be taken lightly.

Perfect against 9th District opponents, the Red Devils have relied on quick tempo and an impressive defense to put themselves in a good position as they close out the second half of the season.

Head coach Rod Drake said if they aren’t pushing the pace and creating turnovers, it opens the team up for a disappointing outcome. When they can perform, though, Drake said he knows they’ve got the talent to compete with anyone.

“When we’re not doing that, we’re not that good, and you see that,” Drake said. “That’s what we have to rely on and we have to bring it every week. You always have to bring your defense with you. All it takes is effort. If you get out there and bust it and do what you’re supposed to do, it’ll happen for you.”

The Devils are coming off a pair of 3rd Region victories this weekend, including their second win over one of the preseason favorites in Owensboro Catholic.

Drake said there were a couple of losses earlier in the season he thought could have gone the other way, but the team is playing better than they did to start the year.

“I’m pretty pleased with where we are right now,” he said. “There’s a couple games I thought we could have won, but we’ve played some quality competition.”

In several of the wins so far, Owensboro’s defense stepped up their intensity in the second half to pull away late. Though the offense is not quite operating at its full potential yet, Drake said they’re starting to reap some rewards at both ends of the floor.

“We’ve got a long way to go, but we are getting better,” he said. “We’re still sloppy offensively, but I like our offense to be a little behind our defense. We’re still getting better defensively. We’re starting to do some things we’ve worked on and the kids are starting to see some fruition out of it.”

The Devils are led by senior guard Darrion Wimsatt, who’s coming off a 26-point outing against Trinity on Saturday. That brings his season total to 304 points through 15 games, and he’s also the biggest threat from 3-point range.

As teams have started to put more pressure on Darrion, freshman Gavin Wimsatt has developed into a dominating presence as the team’s leading rebounder, and he’s averaging 8.4 points per game.

Junior center Jaiden Greathouse has been solid down low, and though he comes off the bench, he’s currently the second-leading scorer with 9.2 points per game. Sophomore Amari Wales also comes off the bench to contribute 8.1 points per game.

Though they’ve got a handful of guys who lead the scoring effort, Drake said it’s really a team effort, and many of their games have been won by a defense.

Juniors Imonte Owsley and Isaac Humphrey, as well as senior Aireon Phillips, round out the typical starting unit. With so many players available to contribute significant minutes, Drake said it drives each person to get better.

“If you’re hot that night then you stay on and if you’re not you come off,” he said. “It’s also something that’s set up for practice. If you get in there and do what you’re supposed to do, you’ll play.”

As they prepare for the last few weeks of the regular season, Drake said the team will work to keep getting better in hopes of a deep playoff run.

“Right now we’re on the downside of the schedule,” he said. “We’re playing some good basketball teams and have more district games coming up. We want to get better and then win our district.”

January 7, 2019 | 12:04 am

Share this Article

Other articles you may like