Despite a 31-point performance from junior Parker Gray, Owensboro Catholic couldn’t muster up enough offense as Daviess County came away with a 65-60 win on the Aces’ home floor.
It was the Cole Burch and Gray show to open up play, as Burch had eight straight for the Panthers while Gray scored the first six points for Owensboro Catholic.
Head Coach Neil Hayden said that getting Burch going early allows the team to excel with him spacing out the floor with his play.
“He’s kind of who we want to play through almost all the time,” Hayden said. “The better we can get him going the more stuff it opens up for other people.”
Daviess County’s offense as a whole continued to click throughout the first quarter and finished with 22 points, while Gray stayed red hot and finished with 13 of the Aces’ 14.
Finding out they would be without eighth grader Jonathan Moss moments before the game, the Panthers offense didn’t lose a step with multiple players stepping up.
However, they struggled to get that same offensive momentum going in the second quarter, while Gray continued to keep Owensboro Catholic in it.
The Panthers were limited to 10 points in the second, while Gray (7) and sophomore Tutt Carrico (4) combined for all 11 of the Aces points. Despite outsourcing Daviess County in the quarter, Owensboro Catholic went into the locker room trailing 30-25.
The Panthers offense came back alive in the third, with Burch leading the charge after a quiet second quarter.
While Gray and Carrico continued to lead the Aces offense, Burch had seven points to lead Daviess County to 19 points and a 47-39 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Slowing down Gray in the second half was key for the Panthers, as Hayden said they tried to limit his scoring opportunities despite how difficult it is with his ability to play off the ball well.
“[We wanted] to limit some of those touches and try to stop him from getting going to the lane as easily,” Hayden said. “But he’s smart, does a really good job of reading his screens and even in transition he takes off.”
Daviess County was able to limit Gray to just two points in the fourth, with Gray also fouling out late in the game.
Despite Gray’s struggles, Owensboro Catholic picked up new life offensively by running through Jari Barber in the post and by creating turnovers.
But every time the Aces made a run, Daviess County had a response and closed out the fourth quarter by limiting turnovers en route to a 65-60 win.
“I was proud of them for staying with it,” Hayden said. “When we got up we had a couple chances to extend the lead, Catholic to their credit came back and I thought we responded each time they had a run.”
With Moss out, multiple players stepped up for Daviess County. Burch finished with 17 points, while junior Jack Payne helped make plays all night with eight points and nine assists.
Sophomore Gage Phelps also gave the Panthers a huge lift off the bench, finishing with 17 points on and two steals.
“He was very aggressive,” Hayden said. “He had some great drives, but he was efficient. He was 6-8 I think and 4-4 from the free throw line and had five rebounds. He gave us 21 minutes I think. Just very efficient and very aggressive.”
Gray led all scorers with 31 points on the night, while Carrico was the only other Owensboro Catholic player with more than eight points by tallying 14 points on the night.
The loss moves the Aces to 2-5, as they will look to bounce back on Saturday, as they have a quick turnaround for their matchup with Butler County at 2:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, Daviess County has won two straight and will look to stay hot when they take on Meade County at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.
Hayden said that he considers the Christmas break almost like a mini-season, with plenty of games and little practice.
Knowing that this can help the Panthers grow mightily or cause them some early season struggles, Hayden hopes that their recent success will send them into Christmas break on the right track.
“It’s a really good time to grow or it becomes difficult,” Hayden said. “So I’m hoping for us, that these two wins in a row can build some confidence going into [this week].”
