Four city/county teams are in the 3rd Region Basketball Tournament as Owensboro and Owensboro Catholic are still alive on the boys’ side while Apollo and Catholic will compete in the girls’ tournament that starts Wednesday.
The Aces are the first local team to take the court as they’ll battle Meade County in Monday’s tournament opener. Owensboro will play in Tuesday’s opener when the Red Devils take on Butler County.
The Apollo E-gals play in Wednesday’s late game against Ohio County as the Lady Aces play in Thursday’s nightcap against Grayson County.
Here’s what each coach had to say about their 3rd Region draw and their tournament opener.
BBK: Owensboro Catholic (16-9) v Meade County (9-10)
Monday, 6 p.m.
Less than two weeks ago, the Green Wave took down the Aces 50-34 but Catholic was without junior standout Ji Webb.
Webb returned to the lineup in the 9th District Tournament opener against Daviess County where he led the Aces to victory with 22 points and 8 rebounds.
Catholic coach Tim Riley said Webb will definitely be a factor this time around.
“Meade County beat us pretty good. We were without Webb,” he said. “He’ll be able to play and he didn’t play in that game. That’ll be a lift, without a doubt. Meade County’s kids already play really, really hard and it’ll be a tough matchup.”
Even though they’re the defending champions, Riley knows they have to come prepared each and every game.
“You’ve got to play. They’re not going to give you the game,” he said. “We have to play well. Honestly, we’re opposite what would arguably be the two best teams in the region, without a doubt with Muhlenberg (County) and Owensboro but you got to go win the game.”
Today’s game will mark six-straight trips to the 3rd Region Tournament for the Aces and Riley said experience is important but they’ve also got some younger players ready to shine.
“We’ve got three of our top seven back from last year,” he said. “For those other guys, this is the first experience. It’d mean a lot more if we had Griff (Brian Griffith) and Gray (Weaver), then we’d have five of our top seven so we’ll be playing some guys that’ll it be their first experience in a regional tournament.”
Along with Webb, junior Sam McFarland has stepped up in the absence of Griffith and Weaver as he’s got several double digit games in the last few weeks.
For Meade County, the Green Wave are led by Casey Turner (14.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg), Canon Decker (11.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and Dylan Abell (9.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg).
BBK: Owensboro (11-5) v Butler County (13-8)
Tuesday, 6 p.m.
The Owensboro Red Devils come into the 3rd Region Tournament on a four-game winning streak and winners of seven of their last eight games as Butler County has lost four of its last six.
Owensboro is clicking at the right time as its only loss in the last few weeks came against state-ranked Bowling Green.
“Right now, this time of the year, it’s more important for us to worry about ourselves,” Red Devil Rod Drake said of their draw. “It’s like maintenance. We’ve just got to make sure we’re sharp. Continue to focus on things we do well that we can control ourselves. Just make sure we’re ready to go Tuesday night.”
After Owensboro’s 9th District Tournament win on Thursday, it’ll be five days before they hit the court again Tuesday.
Given the veterans on their roster, Drake said he’s not worried about not being amped to play.
“We’re fairly young and our seniors, they went their sophomore year and they’re chomping at the bit,” he said. “I think we’re a little giddy right now, antsy. They’re having fun and they’re kind of seeing the results of the hard work they put in this year.”
Kenyata Carbon (19.4 ppg) and Amari Robinson-Wales (17.7 ppg) lead the Red Devils this year as the guard duo have wreaked havoc on opposing guards on both ends of the floor.
Solomon Flener (13.8 ppg, 7.4 rpg) and Jagger Henderson (11.2 ppg) lead the Bears this season.
GBK: Apollo (13-6) v Ohio County (11-9)
Wednesday, 7:45 p.m.
The Apollo E-gals are riding a three-game winning streak into Wednesday’s 3rd Region GBK Tournament opener, including a dominant run through last weeks 9th District Tournament where they beat Daviess County and Owensboro Catholic.
Apollo and Ohio County were scheduled to match up back on Jan. 21 but the game was canceled due to the E-gals first Covid shutdown.
AHS coach Natalie Payne will now get to take on her friend in Ohio County coach Matt Brigance in Wednesday’s nightcap at the Owensboro Sportscenter. Payne and Brigance both coached at Apollo when Payne’s brother was the head coach.
“I’ve known him for years. He’s a good guy,” she said. “I haven’t gotten to see Ohio County play much this year just because you’re so focused on the next game and one game at a time. He’s got a good guard in (Kelsey) Kennedy. She controls the tempo and she can score in a variety of ways. Bullock’s a really good 3-point shooter. She’s hit 53 on the year.
“They’re scrappy. They always stay in games because they’re scrappy and they’re hard-nosed and they’re well-coached. Matt runs a tight ship offensively and he has a lot of nice sets. They know who to get the ball to at the right time so we’ve definitely got our hands full but we’re ready. At this time of the year, it really doesn’t matter who you play or what draw you get, you just got to focus on yourself and continue to sharpen and polish your team.”
The aforementioned Kennedy is averaging 13.1 ppg this season while Bullock is right behind her at 11.3 ppg. Rain Embry helps the Lady Eagles in the post with 9.6 ppg and 6.9 rpg.
Like Owensboro on the boys’ side, the E-gals will try to continue their momentum from the 9th District Tournament championship over a long layoff as it will also be five days from their title to when they take the court in the first round.
Payne said she wishes they could have taken the court on Saturday and started the region tournament then.
“You’ve got to get creative and find different ways in practice,” she said. “Either start practice a different way or end practice a different way, still to keep that competitive edge. They’re teenagers and they get bored in the wait time and they’re human. We as coach, we’ve just got to be creative with them and try our best to keep them motivated.”
The E-gals have been led by the 9th District Player of the Year in Kassidy Daugherty as the senior is averaging 12.8 ppg. Amaya Curry (11.8 ppg) and Zoe Floyd (9.4 ppg) have also added big points in recent weeks. Shelbie Beatty and Amber Dunn have solidified themselves as key players for Payne during their postseason run.
GBK: Owensboro Catholic (14-11) v Grayson County (13-9)
Thursday, 7:45 p.m.
The Owensboro Catholic Lady Aces are coming off of a loss in the 9th District Tournament championship but they’ve been able to bounce back from losses throughout the season.
The Lady Aces are fourth in the region in RPI as they avoided the top two teams in Breckinridge County and Apollo with the Lady Tigers and E-gals on the top half of the bracket.
Catholic coach Michael Robertson said the Cougars are a tough opener.
“Grayson County’s a great team,” he said. “We’re going to have our hands full. They’re going to press and they’re going to get after us. They’re going to try to turn us over. They’re very physical. They’ve been playing really well. We’re going to have our hands full next Thursday. The good thing is we have a little bit to practice and prepare for them. We’ve got to recover from last night and see what happens.”
When it comes to getting over a difficult loss, some coaches want their players to feed off of that feeling. For Robertson, he wants his team to make it a short memory.
“I think I just want to go and forget it,” he said. “I think we need to be like the goldfish in Ted Lasso and just forget about it.”
The Lady Aces have been lead in scoring by several players this season as they have the ability to have a different standout in each game.
Freshman Hailee Johnson leads Catholic in scoring with 8.3 ppg while Catherine Head (7.6 ppg) and Kinsley Goetz (6.4 ppg) round out the top three in scoring for the Aces.
Maddie Hayden, Ally Maggard, Katie Riney and Camille Conkright have also hit big shots for Catholic this season.
For Grayson County, Rachael Snyder leads the Lady Cougars with 15.8 ppg and 11.3 rpg. Ella Robinson (8 ppg, 7 rpg) and Aryssa Riggs (8 ppg) also chip in for GC.
Robertson said Snyder is going to be a focus.
“I know they’ve got (Rachael) Snyder inside,” he said. “She’s a double-double machine so we’re going to have to really contain her … It’ll be a good matchup for us. It’ll be a long time, almost a week away but I think that’s best. We need that right now.”
