When Apollo and Daviess County meet on the court, records are thrown out the window and you
can almost guarantee that you have no clue what you’re about to witness. This remained true on
Friday night, as Daviess County survived a late comeback by the Eagles to win 54-53.
Apollo’s duo of senior Zjhan Tutt and sophomore Kobe Kelly came ready to play from the tip, as
they scored all eight of the Eagles’ first quarter points. Although they found themselves down 13-
8 heading into the second, as the Panthers went on a run late in the second quarter to extend the
lead to ten going into the break.
This is where things got interesting. The Panthers continued to have the hot hand coming out of
the locker room, as junior Gage Phelps led a 10-0 run to open up the third quarter. DC held a
comfortable 18-point lead just a few minutes into the half, until Tutt drained a deep three to stop
the bleeding.
“I’ve been a part of this [rivalry] game for almost 20 years as an assistant and head coach, and
this game is never over,” Daviess County head coach Neil Hayden said. “That’s just what this
game is, I think it means a lot to both teams. That was the message even on our run. I told them
this game is not over, they’re going to make a run.”
They did just that, as back-to-back triples from Kelly cut the lead to seven to start the fourth
quarter.
“They went to their 1-2-2 zone and we didn’t adjust very well,” Hayden said. “We turned it over
and took some bad shots…Kelly made some threes that put some pressure on us.”
DC didn’t shy away, as senior Evan Hillard knocked down consecutive corner threes to extend
the lead back to eight. The Eagles responded quickly as senior Donte Dixon and Kelly each
made threes of their own to make it a one-point affair.
The Eagles simply could not miss from downtown in the final quarter. Every time you thought
Daviess County had it secured, they would sink another to keep them in it. Tutt’s three-pointer
with 13 seconds left cut the lead to two, but Phelps converted both three throws. DC led 54-50
with ten seconds remaining.
Kelly buried his fifth three-pointer of the game with about four seconds left, but Daviess County
didn’t have to inbound the ball and let the time expire to secure their slim victory. The Eagles
comeback efforts fell just short.
Tutt and Kelly combined to score 39 of Apollo’s 53 points in the game, along with seven of their
eight threes. Phelps led the Panthers with 19 points, while Ayer and Hillard added 13 each.
“This gives us a district win, a win in the rivalry, and three wins in our last four,” Hayden said. “I
don’t necessarily like how it went, but I like how we closed. Finding a way to win is important to
us, that’s what we’re trying to build on. I like our team but we’re still figuring out who we are
because our lineup has changed so much. Hopefully we can build some confidence with this.”
The Panthers will be back in action on Tuesday night, when they travel to Meade County to take
on the Green Wave at 5:30 p.m. Apollo will look to regroup Saturday night at Edmonson County
at 7:30 p.m.
