Despite leading by as much as twenty on the night, the E-gals were stifled by Owensboro’s fullcourt pressure in the second half and fell short in a 54-47 overtime loss on the road on Friday.
Apollo came out of the gates setting the tone with their defense, holding the Lady Devils to single digits in the first and second quarter. Senior Gracie Survant (nine) and freshman Kennedy Lane (eight) combined for 17 points in the process, giving the E-gals a 26-17 halftime lead.
Owensboro’s struggles carried over into the third quarter, being held to two baskets and a pair of free throws en route to a 39-23 deficit heading into the fourth. But the Lady Devils turned things around in the fourth, taking advantage of junior Jennifer Lee (10 points) and junior Taraya Thompson (eight points) fouling out in the quarter.
This along with Owensboro managing to keep Survant scoreless and slow down Lane in the third and fourth quarter helped them have a 44-43 lead with 20 seconds to play. However, after managing to keep possession through mounds of defensive pressure, Kennedy was fouled with 5.3 seconds to go and sent to the line.
Lane was only able to sink 1-2 at the line though, as the game remained tied at 44-44 going into overtime. The E-gals weren’t able to capitalize on coming back to force extra basketball on Friday though, as the Lady Devils rattled off a 7-0 run to start overtime.
This ultimately became the difference, as Owensboro was able to take control of the game and complete the 54-47 comeback district win with the home crowd behind them. Lady Devils Head Coach Jansen Locher tipped his cap to Apollo after the game, saying that his team struggled to match their intensity early but was proud of his team’s resiliency to bounce back.
“I think we just finally found a gear that we had been looking for all night in the second half,” Locher said. “They played great. It was probably one of their better games that they’ve played all year long and they were coming together. I saw enthusiasm out of them that I hadn’t seen in a long time, so it was hard for us to match that early.”
Freshman Unique Carter-Swanagan led the way with 12 points on the night, while junior A’Lyrica Hughes was the only other player in double figures. Despite a quiet second half Kennedy led the way for Apollo with 15 points, while Lee had 10 and Survant added nine.
Locher said Owensboro’s defense was the key to the comeback win afterwards, as they were able to keep Lane from having a dominant second half and utilized their experience to seal the deal.
“Lane is so tough for a freshman,” Locher said. “She’s going to be a great player for years to come. We just had to do our best to try and stop her, and I think we did a better job in the second half, fourth quarter and overtime. And then just making some of their more inexperienced players try to go make a play [was key].”
E-gals Head Coach Natalie Payne shared a similar sentiment after the game as well, saying that foul trouble and inexperience hurt the young team in the loss.
“I don’t know that they did anything different, but we had key players foul out and that hurt us,” Payne said. “With Taraya and Jennifer on the bench, it changed things. We didn’t have enough experience on the floor. I’m not taking anything away from our subs, they just don’t have that experience needed to close games.”
Payne said it’s hard seeing the girls efforts not lead to a win on Friday, now falling to 7-16 overall and 1-4 in district play. However, she was proud of Apollo’s willingness to fight back after losing the lead late.
“It’s a heartbreaker for sure, it leaves a sick feeling in your stomach to know we fought that hard but could not finish,” Payne said. “On a positive note, we had a lot of fight in us. The girls did everything we asked them to do. We defended, we got back in transition, but we just couldn’t take care of the ball down the stretch.”
The E-gals skipper went on to continue to express how proud she is of a team that has battled sickness, countless injuries and changes to the roster throughout the season, saying that they have to keep staying strong to close out the season strong.
“When you go through adversity, you learn a lot about yourself and your team,” Payne said. “These 11 players on our varsity roster chose to continue to fight for each other and that means more to us coaches than anything. We are a very young team that is trying to find their way. I keep telling them, we are going to win a big one. Keep fighting.”
Payne and company will look to do so starting with another road game on Saturday, as they are set to battle with Hancock County at 4:30 p.m. Owensboro on the other hand sits at 16-6 overall and 4-1 in district play following the win, as they’ll look to keep things going against Henderson County on the road at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
