Owensboro will have a chance to add to its storied history as the boys’ basketball team makes yet another appearance in the state tournament today. The Red Devils kick off the 2019 Whitaker Bank/KHSAA Boys’ Basketball Sweet Sixteen at 7 p.m. CST against the Ashland Blazer Tomcats, a team with plenty of their own tournament history.
Owensboro extends its own state record of Sweet 16 appearances to 44, and Ashland Blazer has made the second-most trips with 33. The Tomcats have the most Sweet 16 wins with 48, just ahead of the Red Devils’ 47. Both teams have won four KHSAA state championships.
However, when including the 1917 season that was not overseen by the KHSAA, Owensboro can add a fifth state title and three more tournament wins.
This year’s road to the state tournament started off somewhat rocky for the Red Devils, who faced a 7-6 record at the end of December. Since then, they’ve rattled off a 16-1 record and they carry a 12-game win streak into tonight’s game.
Owensboro didn’t just win, though, as they largely imposed their will on opposing teams over the last half of the season on the way to a 23-7 record. They went 9-0 against 9th District opponents with an average win margin of 15 points, and they posted a 17-0 record against 3rd Region foes with an average win margin of 14 points.
According to the team’s Twitter, no team since at least 1999 — that’s as far as they had checked the record books — has ever won the 3rd Region Tournament after finishing the regular season undefeated against teams in the region.
The Red Devils still had to fight just to make it to the Sweet 16 by edging past Breckinridge County in overtime Saturday to claim the region title despite losing team leader Darrion Wimsatt to an injury early in the second quarter.
Owensboro relied on a defense that’s consistently frustrated opponents, but they also got help from Aireon Phillips, who stepped up to score 19 points and lead the Devils to victory.
Other regular contributors on offense this season have been Gavin Wimsatt (10.3 points per game, 6.7 rebounds per game), Amari Wales (10.0 ppg) and Jaiden Greathouse (9.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg). The defense is led by the speedy duo Phillips and Imonte Owsley, and the Devils use that quick tempo to push the pace and score in a hurry.
If Darrion Wimsatt isn’t at full strength, they’ll have to rely on everyone to step up again to advance in the state tournament, though the first-round matchup with the Tomcats is favorable for Owensboro.
Ashland Blazer has the worst record of any team in the tournament at 17-16. Aside from win streaks of three and five games early in the year, the Tomcats didn’t post back-to-back wins again until winning three games to claim the 16th Region championship.
Ashland Blazer is led by Devaunte Robinson (14.4 points per game, 5.9 rebounds per game), with scoring help from Ethan Hudson (10.4 ppg) and Hunter Mays (10.5 ppg).
The winner of Owensboro vs. Ashland Blazer will advance to the quarterfinals, where they will meet the victor of Trinity Louisville (26-8) and Johnson Central (27-7) at 12:30 p.m. CST.
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