On a night when both offenses struggled, Daviess County had just enough for a 41-39 overtime win at Owensboro in Friday’s 9th District girls’ basketball matchup.
The Lady Devils (2-3) forced overtime after Tamia Smith tied it up with 2.1 seconds to play in regulation, and they took their final lead midway through the extra period when Nia Gonzo hit a free throw.
The Lady Panthers (3-1) went ahead for good with a bucket from Adylan Ayer with 1:15 to play, and leading scorer Brooklyn Daugherty added a free throw with 34 seconds left.
“There is a sense of defeat there when you have the game won and then you have got to try and win it again,” said DC head coach John Kirkpatrick of going to overtime. “The fact that they were able to come over there and sit down, collect themselves and still go back out there and grind it out for another four minutes speaks volumes of the kids.”
Daviess County fell behind 13-4 after the first period, but Daugherty helped knot the game at 18-all heading into halftime. She scored 11 points — using three 3-pointers — in the second quarter.
“I think a lot of it was we needed to be a little more patient on the offensive end,” Kirkpatrick said. “We were getting good shots, but we weren’t getting great shots. Once we started being more patient and getting the ball in the paint, it opened things up for Daugherty outside. If she doesn’t hit those 3s early it’s an entirely different game.”
The Lady Panthers have now won three games in a row, and more importantly they start district action with a victory.
“I think more than anything we showed a lot of grit – toughness down the stretch,” Kirkpatrick said. “A lot of adversity, a lot of things not going our way. We didn’t win a single district game last year so 1-0 in district, we’ll take it any way we can get it.”
Daviess County is back in action Monday when they travel to South Spencer. Owensboro plays again Monday at home against McLean County.
BOX SCORE
DCHS 4-14-8-10-5–41
OHS 13-5-4-14-3–39
DCHS (41): Brooklyn Daugherty 16, Katie Mewes 9, Adalyn Ayer 7, Shea Mason 6, Druree Glenn 2, Ella Payne 1
OHS (39): A’Lyrica Hughes 11, Krystell Pappas 7, Lyric Lawrence 6, Tamia Smith 6, Nia Gonzo 5, Chandler Worth 2, Kaylyn Sowders 2
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2019-20 basketball coverage is presented by Rhoads & Rhoads Attorneys at Law.
