Daviess County and Ohio County clashed on Friday night at Luther Beatley Court in an early-season battle as both teams entered the contest without a blemish on their record after the first week of the season.
However, it was only the Eagles that remained undefeated as they knocked off the Panthers 55-45.
Q’Daryius Jennings paced the Eagles’ offense with 17 points, 15 of which came after halftime. Jennings, a two-sport senior athlete for Ohio County, will head to Murray State on a scholarship to join the football program as a running back next fall.
For the Panthers, a balanced scoring attack was spearheaded by senior Camron Johnson’s 13 points. Sophomore Cole Burch tallied 9 points of his own in the losing effort, going three of four from the free-throw line to compliment a trio of field goals.
Ohio County’s Elijah Decker and Josh Manning each connected on field goal attempt from behind the three-point arc to get the action started for the Eagles in the game. However, it was the team’s defensive effort that stifled Daviess County early, ensuring a 15-12 lead at the end of the period on seven Panthers turnovers.
In the second quarter, Johnson and junior Joe Humphreys combined to score 10 points for the Panthers as the home team managed to take care of the ball on the offensive end, limiting their errors and exploiting the openings in an aggressive opposing defense.
At the halftime break, Ohio County led by a point at 24-23.
In an aggressive early season game, an incident involving the Panther’s Joe Humphreys and the Eagles’ Grant Tichenor surfaced with 6:49 to play in the third quarter. Double technical fouls were assessed after each player refused to stand down in an altercation that followed a Tichenor foul on a Humphreys layup attempt. Though limited in its effect on the game, the incident displayed the physicality of a game featuring a combined 45 turnovers and 35 personal fouls.
With just under four minutes to play in the third, the Eagles’ Elijah Decker intercepted a pass near halfcourt, took two dribbles on his way to the rim, and rattled the cylinder with a commanding dunk. Unfortunately for the sophomore, an awkward landing after the show of athleticism resulted in an apparent wrist injury which sidelined him for the remainder of the game.
Daviess County managed to take a two-point lead into the waning seconds of the third period before a Jennings three-point attempt at the buzzer dropped in for the Eagles to give Ohio County a one-point lead going into the final frame.
In the fourth quarter, the Panther’s defense faltered, while the offense was stymied by Ohio County’s defense. The Eagles’ success in protecting the ball when it mattered most was complemented by a 10 for 12 clip from the free-throw line to ice the game.
After the game, Panthers’ head coach Neil Hayden said the game was hard-fought for both sides.
“I thought that both defenses played well tonight, limiting the offense in the game,” Hayden said. “Neither team seemed to shoot very well, which was reflected in the final score. Credit to Ohio County for finishing well, as they made a few more plays than we did in the fourth. Moving forward, we hope our height and physicality on defense will help us win some ballgames. That is certainly our identity with the group of players that we have.”
Daviess County will return to action against Meade County on Tuesday night in a contest on the road. That game is scheduled for an 8 p.m. EST start.
Ohio County will play at home on Tuesday against the visitors from Barren County. The Eagles contest will begin at 7 p.m.
Ohio County 55, Daviess County 45
OC (2-0) 15 9 16 15– 55
DC (2-1) 12 11 16 6 — 45
OC: Q’Daryius Jennings 17, Josh Manning 13, Grant Tichenor 8, Elijah Decker 7, Jaxon Renfrow 4, Isaac Southard 4, Parker Culbertson 2
DC: Camron Johnson 13, Cole Burch 9, Joe Humphreys 6, Max Dees 4, Jack Payne 4, Isaiah Tomes 3, Koki Kato 2, Bo Stratton 2, Brenner Raymer 2
2021 basketball coverage is presented in part by Rhoads & Rhoads Attorneys at Law.
