Despite not being pleased with the Aces lack of efficiency on offense Friday night, Head Coach Tim Riley and company grabbed their first district win of the season by topping Apollo at home 61-46.
It was a slow start to the night for both teams, but Owensboro Catholic used its fullcourt pressure to get going. Senior Brian Griffith led the way, getting multiple steals and chipping in 10 points to put the Aces up 14-5 going into the second quarter.
Owensboro Catholic didn’t slow down in the second either, having its best quarter of the night by outsourcing Apollo 21-13. Griffith (six) and senior Parker Gray (five) combined for 11 of the 21, helping the Aces take a 35-18 halftime lead.
The Eagles bounced back coming out of the locker room, as junior Eli Masterson caught steam and tallied 12 of the team’s 15 points in the quarter. However, Apollo still found themselves trailing 49-33 going into the fourth.
Owensboro Catholic was able to hold the Eagles off in the fourth despite being outscored though, hanging on for a 61-46 win in the district season opener. While the Aces start the year 1-0 in district play, Riley was disappointed in an effort that he said won’t win very many games on their schedule.
“We had a 17-point lead in the first half and they were ready to put them away,” Riley said. “But our inability to do anything offensively was our problem… We didn’t probe the defense at all. To be a good basketball team you gotta pass the ball a little bit. You’ve got to make the defense make some decisions and we came down and turned it over or shot the ball as quick as we did… We’re not going to make a very high percentage of the shots that we took.”
Owensboro Catholic did have some standout performances offensively—including 23 points from Griffith and 13 points from Gray—but struggled with 21 turnovers and a 4-15 clip from beyond the arc. Riley felt as though his team didn’t play with a passion against the Eagles, something he hopes to see change in order to continue their winning ways.
“I thought we were kind of selfish,” Riley said. “That’s what you get when you win three in a row and you think it’s really easy. The hardest thing to do when you win is to keep that chip on your shoulder that you have to do to win. We didn’t have a chip on our shoulder tonight.”
Riley said he was pleased that his guys were able to come away with the win, but knows that with so many players joining the team late because of football that it will take some time to be at their best.
“We just gotta keep improving everyday,” Riley said. “We’re still behind. We’ve got so many football guys. Our inbounds plays suck. All that stuff sucks because we haven’t had enough time. And we’re trying to play a little more pressure, a little more speed because I think that gives us the best chance besides Owensboro in our region to win.”
The Aces will hope to take another step toward that on Tuesday, Dec. 13, as they will have a tough road contest against Trinity (Whitesville) at 7:30 p.m. in the 3rd Region All A Classic.
Apollo on other hand fell to 0-3 with the loss, despite a combined 37 points from Masterson (19) and senior Zjhan Tutt (18). The Eagles will look to bounce back on Saturday, as they are set to host Bethlehem at 6 p.m.
