The Owensboro Red Devils have prided themselves on defense this season and on Tuesday against the Butler County Bears, that defensive pressure was on full display.
Owensboro led wire-to-wire and only allowed two field goals in the first half as they cruised to the 78-35 win over the Bears to advance to their third-straight 3rd Region Tournament semifinal.
Red Devil coach Rod Drake said his team came to play.
“I think tonight was our best defensive effort,” he said. “First half, I think we probably ran one or two sets and the everything else was in transition. One of the more important things, we talked tonight. We were really focused. We were locked in tonight. Sometimes you’ve got to knocked down to get up and I think after last year, the long layoff, our guys are chomping at the bit.”
From the opening inbound, the Red Devils put the Bears in a bind as they forced turnover after turnover on the 12th District runner-up.
While it’s usually the Red Devil guards that get the offense moving, Owensboro sophomore big man Ethan Pendleton scored 10 of his game-high 20 points in the opening frame.
Drake said Pendleton has improved a lot this season.
“He’s working at it,” he said. “Ethan missed a lot of games early in the year … He finally turned it and is getting a little confidence. He looked good tonight.”
The Red Devils had 10 players score in the win, including three in double figures. In addition to Pendleton’s 20 points, Amari Robinson-Wales added 15 points and Kenyata Carbon finished in 13 points.
Drake said it’s always good when a lot of players see the floor.
“It was a total team effort,” he said. “These guys, it’s good to get some of these guys in. They work hard in practice. I told our guys, we’re 15, I look at us being 15 deep and no two or three people are going to beat us.”
Muhlenberg County beat Hancock County 44-33 in Tuesday’s second game so the Red Devils will get a rematch with the Mustangs on Friday.
Muhlenberg beat Owensboro 53-51 earlier this season but the Red Devils were without the aforementioned Carbon and Pendleton.
“It’s going to be a crazy game,” Drake said. “Since I’ve been coaching, I’ve played them. I’ve had (Steve) Sparks in the semifinal, (Tony) Hopper in the semifinal. These guys here twice if they win so it’s almost like a ritual. It’s almost like Kentucky and Michigan State or Kentucky and Duke. We always hook up in the region but it’s always good to be here and be in the conversation.”
The Red Devils and Mustangs will hit the court at 8:30 p.m. Friday. Owensboro Catholic and Ohio County will play at 5 p.m. then the gym will be cleared before the second semifinal.
OWENSBORO 78, BUTLER COUNTY 35
BC (5-10) 5 7 16 7–35
OHS (12-5) 23 18 17 20–78
BC: Jagger Henderson 8, Leevi McMillin 9, Solomon Flener 5, Isaac Dockery 8, Lawson Rice 2, Kolton Hudson 2, Jonah Akers 1
OHS: Amari Robinson-Wales 15, Maurice Moorman 6, Cayman Powell 9, Kenyata Carbon 13, Taquan Robinson 2, Trey Hinton 6, Matt Brown 2, Talas Taylor 3, Ethan Pendleton 20, Jeremiah Goodwin 3
2021 basketball coverage is presented in part by Rhoads & Rhoads Attorneys at Law.
