For the fifth year in a row, the Apollo E-gals and Owensboro Catholic Lady Aces will meet in the 9th District Tournament final as the two meet at 7 p.m. Friday at the Sportscenter.
Both teams cruised to victories Wednesday night as Apollo took down Daviess County 55-37 and the Lady Aces used a big second half to beat Owensboro 72-37.
E-gals take down Daviess County
The Apollo E-gals got an early lead over Daviess County Wednesday in the first 9th District Tournament semifinal and never gave it up as they ended the Lady Panthers season 55-37.
Despite her team hitting shots throughout the game, Apollo coach Natalie Payne was more impressed with her team’s defensive effort.
“We had some breakdowns defensively but in 32 minutes, you’re going to have breakdowns. I feel like we battled,” she said. “The second and third effort plays were there. It was a collective defensive effort … Really proud of the grit. It’s tournament time and you know each other so well, you just have to be gritty and hustle. Efforts got to be there.”
Apollo went up 14-9 after the first and extended their lead to 28-16 at the break after Shelbie Beatty buried a half-court triple.
Payne said she wasn’t surprised when Beatty banged it in as also she finished with a game-high 16 points in the E-gals victory.
“Shelbie practices those shots all the time,” she said. “Every time we do half-court shots in practice, just for something fun at the end, she just makes them consistently. When it let go, I thought this thing got a chance. All smiles after that. It gave us a boost.”
The game was physical throughout but the E-gals were ready for it after their battle Friday against Graves County.
Payne said she knew the game would give them some momentum going into the tournament.
“I thought it was huge,” she said. “It gave us a lot of confidence and momentum. We thought about not playing that game but then the more we talked as a staff, we’ve got to get another game in. We can’t take a whole week off. We’ve got to be game ready, game speed and to play a team of that caliber, was good for us win or lose. Obviously we came out on top so that gave us some confidence.”
Kassidy Daugherty and Zoe Floyd each finished with 12 points for the E-gals.
Daviess County was led by Adylan Ayer and her 12 points.
Lady Panther coach John Kirkpatrick said he felt like his team was ready for the tough matchup.
“I think for the last four days of practice, we prepared and I think we were adequately prepared,” he said. “I think my staff did an incredible job with the kids and they were bought in. We came out and executed and just a few balls didn’t fall our way. They fought until the very end and I’ve got to give them credit for that.”
DC graduates one senior as they return the rest of their starters but Kirkpatrick said her leadership tough to replace.
“I’ve got one senior, Brooklyn Daugherty, that we’re going to deeply miss,” he said. “On the court and off the court.”
Kirkpatrick said he wants Wednesday’s loss to hurt because he knows it’ll help in the years to come for his many younger players.
“The message after the game was it’s okay to be sad. You’ve got a right to be sad right now,” he said. “I want you to do that but then I want you to forget about it. When the sadness is gone, let’s use this as motivation, let’s use this as fire for the future. We didn’t get a spring, summer or fall this past year, no one did, so that’s not that an excuse. I know with a strong offseason, there’s a lot of potential in this program.”
APOLLO 55, DAVIESS COUNTY 37
DC (8-12) 9 7 9 12–37
AHS (12-6) 14 14 14 13–55
DC: C.J. Paige 6, Katie Mewes 9, Madison Spurrier 1, Ella Payne 7, Brooklyn Daugherty 2, Adylan Ayer 12
AHS: Amaya Curry 6, Shelbie Beatty 16, Zoe Floyd 12, Addison Carter 2, Kassidy Daugherty 12, Amber Dunn 7
Lady Aces cruise by Devils
After a sluggish start by both teams, the Owensboro Catholic offense caught fire midway through the game and never let up as they cruised to the 72-37 win over Owensboro to advance to yet another 9th District Tournament championship.
Robertson said earlier this season that even when shots aren’t falling, the defense still has to be there.
“They just got down, locked down and played,” he said. “I was upset with how many offensive rebounds we gave up, way too many offensive rebounds. If that happens on Friday, we’ll lose. We’ve got to come ready to play on Friday and make sure we’re down and ready to play in defense.”
The Lady Aces defense showed up in a big way Wednesday as they held the Lady Devils to single digits in the first three quarters.
When they lead 25-15 at the half, the game was just getting started for Catholic.
“The third quarter was big,” Robertson said. “Scored 27 points. The ball was going through in bunches. We outscored them 27-8.”
The Aces hit shot after shot in the frame to put the game away and coast to victory in the fourth.
Hailee Johnson finished with a team-high 15 points while Kinsley Goetz added 14.
Goetz has been a solid presence in the post for Robertson the last few weeks.
“Getting rebounds and putbacks,” he said was key for her game. “She came right in the game and scored two points right off the bat. She’s being a force and that’s what I like.”
Robertson knows Friday will be a battle with the E-gals as they split the two matchups with Apollo this season.
“That’s a good team over there,” he said of Apollo. “Beatty’s playing great. Dunn’s Dunn, she’s been playing really well. Kassidy’s getting shots, Curry’s getting to the rim, Zoe’s finishing on the block. They’re going to be a handful for us Friday. We’ll have to come in tomorrow and have a good practice and get ready for them.”
Owensboro was led by senior Lyric Lawrence and her game-high 16 points.
Lady Devil coach Jansen Locher said when the ball isn’t going through the net, it’s hard to stay in the game.
“We had what we wanted early but we had a hard time making shots,” he said. “We just kind of ran out of gas. Michael’s a great coach over there and he’s got 10-11 girls he can run in and he doesn’t lose a lot no matter his subs. They’re able to wear teams now and that’s what he should be doing. We just kind of got worn out. Not really used to playing on this big floor as much as the others. We had some players get frustrated and they kept going until the end and that’s all that we ask for as coaches.”
The Lady Devils graduate several seniors but they return their top scorer from this season in freshman Alyrica Hughes.
Hughes, along with several other young players, are going to be key for Locher.
“Hoping we get a good summer in this year,” he said. “Missed that last year and everybody was really affected by that. We’re going to come in this summer, we’ve got some good talented young girls coming up from the middle school that are going to be able to help us next year. We’re for sure going to build on it. As talented as some of our younger girls are, they have a lot of room to grow as well.”
OWENSBORO CATHOLIC 72, OWENSBORO 37
OHS (10-10) 9 6 8 14–37
OC (14-10) 11 14 27 20–72
OHS: Krystall Pappas 4, Alyrica Hughes 3, Brooklyn Williams 9, Lyric Lawrence 16, Lindsey Gibson 3, Kaylyn Sowders 2
OC: Katie Riney 9, Hailee Johnson 15, Brooke Hamilton 7, Maddie Hayden 6, Catherine Head 3, Camille Conkright 6, Kashlynn Rice 2, Lauren Keelin 2, Ally Maggard 8, Kinsley Goetz 14
2021 basketball coverage is presented in part by Rhoads & Rhoads Attorneys at Law.
