Thursday marked the third-straight 9th District Tournament championship for the Owensboro Red Devils but it also marked another occasion as the nets at the Owensboro Sportscenter remain safe until next week’s 3rd Region Tournament.
Drake and the Red Devils have made winning district titles the norm but they’ve also made it clear winning a district title is business as usual.
“That’s tradition,” Drake said. “We don’t cut them down.”
To earn their 9th District title, the Red Devils had to get by Owensboro Catholic as the Aces were down two starts in Brian Griffith and Gray Weaver.
Owensboro grabbed the early lead and never gave it up as they cruised to the 75-52 victory.
Drake said they weren’t as familiar with the Aces this season because of the way the schedule shook out.
“One of the things about this district this year was we only got to play these guys one time,” he said. “In the past, I think three or four years ago, we probably played Catholic four times … Sometimes you get saturated when you play them so many times but we’re right where we want to be at.”
The Red Devils went up 24-10 after one and led 37-23 at the break but the second quarter wasn’t as efficient for Owensboro as they settled for jumpers throughout the frame.
Drake said they have to focus on the gameplan.
“We got out and we got what we wanted then sometimes … Kids want to do their own thing,” he said. “We regrouped and everything worked out well.”
Owensboro went on to outscore the Aces in the second half as they grabbed their second double-digit win over Catholic this season.
Coming into the game, Aces coach Tim Riley said he knew it’d be a tall task to take down the Red Devils.
“We played them without our main ball handlers,” he said. “It’s hard to play them with them. It’s hard because of their collective team speed. 29 turnovers, it’s hard to overcome that. I thought our kids played hard and we rebounded with them and I thought we did some things right. You commit 29 turnovers, you’ve got no chance. Simple as that. That’s what they do to us. Especially without guys that can put it on the bounce and move it when they need to.”
Riley said the battle with Owensboro is difficult for the Aces because of their speed.
Riley said the Aces will get back to work and prepare for next week as they find out their opponent Saturday morning.
“So much of it this time of the year is matchups,” he said. “It comes down to matchups. You hope our matchup in the regional tournament falls into what we can deal with.”
Ji Webb led the Aces with 18 points while Sam McFarland also finished in double digits with 15 points.
Kenyata Carbon continued his stellar play this season as he finished with 18 points while Cayman Powell and Ethan Pendleton each finished with 10 points for the Red Devils.
The Red Devils will savor the win for a bit but Drake said they’ll be back to work by the weekend.
“We’ll take tomorrow off and give them some time to get away from everything after everybody tells them how great they are tonight,” he said. “Then we’ll come back and bust their butt Saturday afternoon. It’s good for them. They’re kids, they deserve it. With all the stuff that’s been going on, our personnel and being off. Right now we’re just enjoying it.
“After last year and all the pandemic and everything, you just can’t take things for granted. Mid-January we didn’t know if we were going to be here then quarantine again. It was looking kind of bleak, it was almost fishing season. Everything’s worked out. Happy to be where we are.”
OWENSBORO 75, OWENSBORO CATHOLIC 52
OC (16-9) 10 13 6 23–52
OHS (11-5) 24 13 19 19–75
OC: Wyatt Jenkins 1, Parker Gray 3, Luke Scales 5, Tut Carrico 1, Ji Webb 18, Sam McFarland 15, Jari Barber 9
OHS: Amari Robinson-Wales 6, Maurice Moorman 2, Cayman Powell 10, Kenyata Carbon 18, Chris Glover 1, Trey Hinton 4, Matt Brown 3, Talas Taylor 8, Ethan Pendleton 10, Jalen Rogers 5, Dylon Talbott 6, Devonte McCampbell
2021 basketball coverage is presented in part by Rhoads & Rhoads Attorneys at Law.
