The Lady Aces were a little slow out of the gate, but they quickly found their rhythm on both ends of the floor and made easy work of a 65-26 victory at Owensboro on the final night of 9th District girls’ basketball action Friday.
Owensboro Catholic (19-9, 5-1 district) used extended pressure and finished the night forcing 31 turnovers, leading to easy buckets that allowed them to all but put the game away by halftime.
“I think when the game really changed was when we started pressing and they really struggled getting the ball up the court,” said Catholic head coach Michael Robertson. “My players started realizing who we needed to take away. Once we did that and we were able to get a feel for them, I thought we did a good job of limiting their touches.”
With only a 13-8 lead after the first quarter, the Lady Aces controlled the second period and quickly pushed their advantage to 15 points. Four points from Ally Maggard started a 12-2 run, which ended with 3-pointers by Catherine Head and Hannah McKay.
Catholic took a 32-14 lead into halftime, then went on a 16-2 run over the first 3:15 of the third quarter to put the game out of reach.
McKay led all scorers with 26 points, also adding 11 rebounds and five steals. It was also an impressive night for Isabella Henning, who finished with seven points, seven steals, six assists and four rebounds.
“McKay was just rebounding and going to the glass like I ask her to every single game,” Robertson said. “Henning has played really well for us. She’s very active. When she gets steals, we’re turning them into points.”
Owensboro (5-22, 1-5) effort was led by Tamia Smith and Nia Gonzo with eight points each. Smith pulled down eight rebounds and Gonzo had seven.
The teams will face off again in the 9th District tournament, as the Lady Aces claimed the No. 1 seed and the Lady Devils are the No. 4 seed. All games will be play at the Sportscenter.
“Once it’s tournament time you throw all the records out the door and you’ve just got to come ready to play,” Robertson said. “Hopefully we’ll do that.”
Owensboro Catholic will return to action Monday when they play their final home game of the year against Henderson County. Owensboro hits the road Saturday for a game at McLean County.
BOX SCORE
OCHS 13-19-19-14—65
OHS 8-6-8-4—26
OCHS (65): Hannah McKay (26), Ally Maggard (8), Isabella Henning (7), Catherine Head (7), Spencer Harvey (5), Kinsley Goetz (4), Katie Riney (2), Randchelle Johnson (2), Rachel Traylor (2), Camille Conkright (2)
OHS (26): Tamia Smith (8), Nia Gonzo (8), A’Lyrica Hughes (4), Brooklyn Williams (4)
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2019-20 basketball coverage is presented in part by Rhoads & Rhoads Attorneys at Law.
