With just two weeks until the 9th District Tournament, there would usually be a good picture of what seeding would look like but in 2021, much like 2020, not everything is at it should be with Saturday’s matchup between Owensboro and Daviess County being just the second district game to be played this season.
The Panthers were coming off of a victory in their 9th District opener Friday as they took down Apollo but Saturday proved to be Owensboro’s day with the Red Devils grabbing a 64-51 victory after two players scored more than 20 points in the win.
Kenyata Carbon had a game-high 22 points with senior Amari Robinson-Wales chipping in 21 as the Red Devils are now 6-4 on the year.
Owensboro coach Rod Drake said Carbon was all over the court in the victory.
“He can help us at both ends,” Drake said. “The thing with him is we’ve got to keep him under control. He gets a little uncontrolled at times but I think he is a key to us. Every spurt we made, he was at the beginning of it.”
The Red Devils led 32-24 at the break but the closest the Panthers could get in the second half would be four points as Owensboro turned it up a notch when they needed to.
With two weeks until district tournament week, Drake said he’s happy with where his team is.
“We’re right there in the middle of the pack,” he said. “Right where I like to be at, in the middle of the pack with some room to grow.”
The Red Devils have been forced to quarantine twice this season so Drake said the’re one key for them until 9th District Tournament.
“Bottom line, we’re going to try to stay healthy … ” he said. “We’ve just got to stay focused and get better. One of the advantages at this point is you take a team that’s played 18-19 games, they’re getting ready to hit their midseason slump. You take a tram like us that’s every other week … We’re still excited. We still have room to grow and I think we can get on a roll.”
Daviess County was led by Cole Burch as the sophomore finished with a team-high 20 points.
Burch had been a standout for the Panthers the last few weeks but he’s also helped defensively as well.
Hayden has said this is his longest team during his time at DC and they used that to their advantage on Saturday, forcing the Red Devils to make tough shots throughout the game.
“We wanted to make them have to take tough two’s and long three’s,” he said. “They’re so good in transition. We were really preaching get to the paint and then get out. They also get some of those points because they turn people over so much and they did that tonight with us.”
Despite the deficits in the second half, the Panthers didn’t lie down as they’ve made it commonplace to have single-digit games in the fourth quarter this season.
Hayden said that’s not something he worries about with his team.
“That’s not who these guys are,” he said. “Their energy and their togetherness is good. It’s where it needs to be. We just need situational basketball to improve, which is practice … We’ve got 12 days to figure that part out but I like our team, I like what we can do. We’ve just got to be able to convert and not turn it over.”
Daviess County plays at South Warren Monday and then at Owensboro Catholic on Thursday.
Saturday started Owensboro’s 9th District slate as they still have two more district contests this season. He said it’s nice to finally have a win.
“It was good to get a standing in the district, get established,” Drake said of the win. “Next couple of weeks will be fun because we’ll probably play all our district games then turn around and do it again. I’m really happy with where we are right now.”
Owensboro hits the court Tuesday as it hosts Apollo at OHS.
OWENSBORO 64, DAVIESS COUNTY 51
DC (5-10) 9 15 15 12–51
OHS (6-4) 12 20 13 19–64
DC: Joe Humphreys 7, Cole Burch 20, Max Dees 5, Bo Stratton 3, Isaiah Tomes, Kiko Kato 3, Camron Johnson
OHS: Amari Robinson-Wales 21, Kenyata Carbon 22, Trey Hinton 8, Matt Brown 4, Talas Taylor 1, Ethan Pendleton 1, Jeremiah Goodwin 7
2021 basketball coverage is presented in part by Rhoads & Rhoads Attorneys at Law.
