Before the two face off on Friday night, the Lady Aces and Lady Panthers prepared themselves with wins in their respective matchups against Hopkins County Central and McLean County on Thursday.
Owensboro Catholic vs Hopkins County Central
The Lady Aces used a balanced scoring effort to open up the week with a win on Thursday, topping Hopkins County Central 64-47 on the road.
Sophomores Aubrey Randolph and Karmin Riley got Owensboro Catholic going early in the win, chipping in six points each to help take a 19-11 lead following the first quarter. The Lady stayed hot in the second as well with Randolph and senior Maddie Hayden’s five points each and four each from Riley and junior Hailee Johnson helped keep them out in front 39-25 at halftime.
The Lady Storm never recovered either, as Owensboro Catholic continued to outscore them for the remainder of the night en route to the 64-47 win. Riley led the Lady Aces with 17 points on the night, while Randolph (13), Johnson (12) and senior Katie Riney (10) all finished in double figures as well.
Owensboro Catholic improves to 17-5 with the win, now turning their attention to a road district matchup with Daviess County at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
Daviess County vs McLean County
Strong defense and another impressive performance from senior Adylan Ayer helped the Lady Panthers defeat McLean County on Thursday night, grabbing a narrow 43-39 home win.
Ayer and sophomore Zoey Beehn gave Daviess County a spark early, grabbing six points each while senior Maggie Hancock added a bucket as well to take a 14-10 lead after the first. Ayer kept her foot on the gas in the second as well, chipping in 10 more points to go along with four from senior Madison Spurrier to gain a 28-21 lead by halftime.
But the Lady Panthers struggled coming out of the locker room, being limited to four points in the quarter and finding themselves tied at 32-32 heading into the fourth. The Lady Cougars ran out of steam in the fourth though, being held to single digits while Daviess County shot 7-9 from the line—with Ayer accounting for 4-5—-to help them grab a 43-39 win.
Ayer led all scorers with 22 points, knocking down three from deep and going 7-9 from the charity stripe, while Beehn and Hancock followed as scoring leaders with nine and six respectively. The Lady Panthers improved to 11-13 with the win, as they now have another tough home matchup against Owensboro Catholic at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
