Daviess County got off to a fast start on Friday night against the Lady Devils from Owensboro, riding a strong offensive performance from Madison Spurrier, who scored 12 points on the night, all the way to victory. The final score from Luther Beatley court was 47-31 in favor of the Lady Panthers (3-2, 1-0) as they sent Owensboro (4-2, 0-1) packing.
In the first quarter it was Daviess County’s defense that led the way, holding Owensboro to just four points. Katie Mewes helped the Lady Panthers establish their offense early, scoring two layups on well-executed halfcourt sets. Unfortunately for Mewes, foul trouble sent her to the bench early, forcing the home team to rely on their bench to take care of the basketball from the point guard position. CJ Paige stepped up nicely, filling in the void left by the senior starter.
For the Lady Devils, offense was difficult to come by all night. Lizy Phillips and Unique Carter-Swanagan paced the visitors with nine points and eight points respectively. Alyrica Hughes handled the Daviess County pressure well in the first half, helping to keep her team in the game. However, it was the Lady Devils defense that presented several opportunities on the fast break over the course of the second and third quarters to keep it within striking distance.
With Owensoro applying added pressure in the full-court press, the third quarter was perhaps the most competitive frame of the night. Daviess County was unable to break down the defense on multiple possessions, and a second straight layup by Carter-Swanagan with 2:15 to go in the third quarter cut the Lady Panthers lead to 7 at 27-20. Foul trouble continued to mount for the home team, who finished the first half with 13 team fouls and finished the game with 23 total team fouls.
Unfortunately for the Lady Devils, free throw misses ensured the safety of the Lady Panthers victory, something Owensboro head coach Jansen Locher took note of after the contest.
“I want to congratulate Daviess County on a game well-played,” Locher said. “That being said, we just couldn’t get anything to fall on the offensive side of the court. We need to get back in the gym and focus our offensive efforts to make ourselves more of a threat in these big games. Our guards do a great job applying pressure, but we have to make more free throws. We didn’t convert at the charity stripe and that affected us mentally in all aspects of our game.”
On the other side of the final score, Stephen Haile passed the test in his first district matchup in his first year as head coach for the Lady Panthers. Hale was proud of the way his bench contributed in spite of some significant foul trouble in the game.
“I thought we played well tonight and I was thrilled that we held them to 31 points,” Haile said. “Our zone and man-to-man both forced some bad shots, and we were happy to let them play transition basketball tonight. The great thing about our team is our depth. The juniors that come off of our bench offer us a steady hand in the heat of the game, and I’m really proud of the way we played together tonight.”
Hale continued on to talk about what it has been like in his first season at the helm for Daviess County.
“I think it’s been about to be expected,” Haile said. “We knew there would be some growing pains as the girls are getting used to my system and I’m getting used to their strengths and weaknesses. Shot selection and taking care of the basketball are two things I want us to focus on, but I feel like the season has gone as good as can be expected, if not even a little better than expected.”
Up next for the Lady Panthers is a home matchup with Logan County on Saturday afternoon. That game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. tipoff. For the Lady Devils a home matchup with Meade County will hopefully bring about more favorable results in a 12:30 p.m. tip-off game on Saturday.
