The future looks bright for Owensboro girls’ basketball following a historic Saturday for the middle school program. For the first time in school history, both the seventh-grade and eighth-grade teams won the MWKAC tournament in the same season.
The eighth-grade team ended a drought that spanned nearly three decades — their last championship came in 1990 — and the seventh-graders won for the first time since 2003.
Coach Amanda Worth said it’s been a long time in the making, and playing against talented opponents has made it difficult to add another trophy.
“It’s been so long since they’ve been able to put a team together to win the conference,” Worth said. “There’s a lot of competition in our area.”
This season’s group of girls is especially tight-knit, and many of the girls have been playing together each summer for the past four years.
“We’ve had a group of girls that we’ve been able to work with,” Worth said. “We can teach them fundamentals and keep them interested in it. Having been together for four years has been a tremendous difference. Every year they improved, and it finally all came together.”
The seventh-graders beat Burns on Saturday, and the eight-grade squad followed by stunning undefeated Owensboro Catholic.
Worth said everything had to line up perfectly for Owensboro to beat OCMS, especially after the first two meetings were largely dominated by Catholic. All the players did their part, Worth said, and they played hard all game to get a monumental win.
“Everybody just did their job, and that put points on the board,” she said. “We just came out on fire. Everything lined up and from the moment of tipoff to the last minute we were dominant.”
Eighth-graders Lindsey Gibson and Brooklyn Williams are a big presence that get rebounds and block out well, while Moorman is a point guard who can score and dish out assists evenly. At the other end, Chandler Worth provides good pressure and creates turnovers.
All of the seventh-graders also dress for the eighth-grade team, and a handful of them contribute significantly for both units. ALyrica Hughes is an especially versatile threat, and Worth said she’s very valuable to the offense.
“I can’t tell you how helpful she is because she plays pretty much every minute of the seventh-grade game and the eighth-grade games,” Worth said. “She is a tremendous ball handler and scorer and she sees the floor really well.”
Worth said finally adding another banner is a bigger accomplishment than the team can probably comprehend. While the girls enjoy winning this season, Worth thinks about the bigger significance of finally showing they have the talent to compete for years to come.
“We have stared at that banner that says 1990 in our gymnasium for four years,” Worth said. “We have talked about it at practice, but I don’t think the girls understand the significance of it being 30 years since we have done this — and never before in the school’s history have we won seventh and eighth at the same time.”
With a handful of seventh-graders who have already got experience on both teams, Worth said the girls will come back next season without missing a beat. While she’s focused on the middle school teams as a coach, she’s also excited for the possibility of the players going on to high school and carrying on their success.
“It’s exciting for me as a coach, and it’s exciting for me as a parent to see the future of girls’ basketball at Owensboro High School,” Worth said. “If these girls stay together, they have a real chance to do something special. It’s exciting to think of the possibilities of the future. I think we’re going to be contenders in district for several years to come.”
7th grade roster
ALyrica Hughes, Lulu Greer , Lizy Phillips, Ashanti Williams, Emma Wilkins, Jazmine Robinson, Emani Badger, Trinity Hogg
8th grade roster
Melia Moorman, Chandler Worth, Lindsey Gibson, Brooklyn Williams, Askiyah Hughes, Keiaya Farmer
Coaches
Amanda Worth, Marcus Smith, Ray Frazier
