Owensboro Catholic battled through three quarters but didn’t quite have enough to hold off Frankfort down the stretch Friday, and the Aces came up short in a 63-55 loss in the quarterfinals of the All “A” Classic state tournament at Eastern Kentucky University.
The Aces (13-7) were without leading scorers Brian Griffith and Ji Webb — who combine to average more than 30 points per game — but the offense still got off to a hot start behind strong efforts from Drew Hartz and Sam McFarland.
After a bucket down low by McFarland to start the game, Hartz drained a pair of long 3s that gave Catholic an 8-3 lead.
The Aces maintained a slim margin for most of the half, but a triple by Austin Chaz gave Frankfort (10-12) a 19-18 edge with 3:13 to go in the second period.
McFarland answered with an old fashioned 3-point play, also scoring with 3 seconds to go in the half to push the Aces’ advantage to 25-22.
Frankfort scored the first seven points of the third quarter, then used long possessions to drain the clock once they had the lead.
Catholic’s final lead came at 30-29 when Hartz drained a 3, but Frankfort went on another 7-0 run to gain control again. Andrew Riney banked in a 3 from half court as time expired in the third to narrow the Aces’ deficit to 36-33.
Frankfort used an 11-3 run to start the third quarter to create some extra space, and they led by at least six the rest of the way.
Hartz led the Aces with 20 points, while McFarland added 12 points and eight boards. Riney finished with 11 points, four assists and three steals.
In the absence of Webb in the post, the Aces struggled on the boards and were outrebounded 31-20. Frankfort turned seven offensive rebounds into eight second-chance points.
BOX SCORE
FHS 11-11-14-27—63
OCHS 15-10-8-22—55
FHS (63): Chaz Austin 23, Will O’Bryan 10, Reed Miklavcic 9, Jackson Twombly 9, Jordan Blythe 9, Charles Ellis 2, Nathaniel O’Bryan 1
OCHS (55): Drew Hartz 20, Sam McFarland 12, Andrew Riney 11, Gray Weaver 6, Luke Scales 3, Jamison Wall 3
