Owensboro Catholic ran away with the game in the second half at the SportsCenter on Friday evening, defeating the Panthers 55-30. The Lady Aces defensive pressure gave DC a lot of trouble early, as the Panthers were without key guards Emme Roberts and Lily Hoagland due to injury.
Although they had forced numerous turnovers, Owensboro Catholic was never able to put it together on the offensive end in the first half. The Panthers were able to stay in it and only found themselves down eight at the break.
“We just weren’t hitting shots in the first half,” Lady Aces head coach Michael Robertson said. “We were turning them over, we just weren’t converting on the other end. We were able to convert in the second half. Hailee shot the ball really well in the second half and it really helped us extend that lead.”
Hailee Johnson came out of the locker room on fire. After only turning in two points in the first half, the senior guard scored nine points in the third quarter alone. Her 16 points were huge for the Lady Aces, as she provided a spark offensively to pull away from DC. The Lady Aces outscored the Panthers 33-16 in the second half.
“Daviess County is very physical with us,” Robertson said. “I think they got worn out, so they weren’t as physical in the second half. When we play hard and get after it, we create a lot of havoc defensively. I’m proud of that, we’re playing really well defensively.”
Adlyan Ayer produced a similar performance to Johnson, scoring all her eight points in the second half. Zoey Beehn led Daviess County with 12 points on the night.
Daviess County (2-5, 0-2) be right back at the SportsCenter on Wednesday afternoon, as they’ll take on Castle High School (IN) as a part of the Independence Bank Kentucky-Indiana Classic at 3:45 p.m.
The Lady Aces (8-0, 2-0) will take on Corbin High School on Monday at 2 p.m. They’ll be competing in the Queen of the Commonwealth at Bullitt East High School.
“We are going to go get challenged, that’s why I want to go up there,” Robertson said. “Almost every team that will be there was pre-season ranked. We play a Corbin team that’s a lot like us… It should be a track meet up and down the court.”
