Owensboro Catholic secured their spot in the district championship on Thursday, Feb. 29 after eliminating hosts Apollo in an 84-35 blowout victory. The Lady Aces will be taking on rivals Owensboro in the district title match in hopes of lifting their 3rd district championship in a row.
The first quarter saw the Lady Aces utilizing their full court press to make things difficult for the E-gals. Apollo’s defense did well to keep OCHS out of the paint early, but Catholic began to build momentum after a three from Delaney Cooper put their lead at 12-8. Cooper’s three ultimately led to a 21-point scoring run for OCHS.
Jenna Krampe then drove to the paint, drew the foul and converted the and-1 play. She then scored another driving layup to bring the first quarter to a close at 17-8. Krampe went on to lead the team in scoring after working her way in and out of the post for most of the game. Owensboro Catholic head coach Michael Robertson said Krampe often doesn’t get the recognition she deserves, but performances like these show that her motor just does not quit.
“She is an unbelievable player that doesn’t get the recognition she deserves,” he said. “I guarantee you that nobody has any game plans for her, but after the game they look down at the statsheet and they’re like ‘Jesus.’ She can play ball. She just does all the little things like rebounds, steals and she plays hard. She’s unbelievable around the rim, and I’m pretty sure she led the state in field goal percentage this year. I played basketball with her dad and her motor is the same: it just doesn’t stop.”
The Lady Aces continued their run into the second quarter after Hailee Johnson pulled up for a jumper just inside the 3-point line. After a three from Johnson, Krampe drew a foul on her way to the basket and sunk the free throw. Jenna Dant then snapped the scoring run with 2 free throws, and that kickstarted the offense for Apollo. After a stop on defense, Jennifer Lee hit a jumper for 2 and then made 6 free throws to help the E-gals cut the lead to 42-21 at halftime.
Johnson opened the second half off with a contested three. After Dant answered with a drive to the paint, Cooper followed up with a contested three of her own. The Lady Aces didn’t take their foot off the gas as they outscored AHS 30-9 in the third. Karmin Riley made 4 of the team’s 6 threes during the quarter, and Krampe continued to dominate in the post as she converted yet another and-1 play close to the end of the quarter. Riley’s 4th and final three pointer of the game closed out the third quarter at 72-30.
The E-gals continued to fight as Dant recorded two more baskets in the paint in the final quarter, but OCHS closed out the win at 84-35.
OCHS had 4 players score in the double digits, and the depth in scoring is something Robertson has to talk to the team about since the beginning of the season.
“We’ve been really focusing and working on that,” he said. “We’ve talked about this since the beginning of the year. We’re not going to beat a team by doing 1 on 1s. We’ve got to use all 5 of us, and I think we’re doing a better job of that. We’re averaging 18-20 assists a game and scoring about 60-70 points per game.”
Krampe led the Lady Aces in scoring with 19 points while shooting 5 of 5 from the free throw line. Johnson shot 4 of 4 and had a three to go along with her 15 points, and Riley’s 4 threes contributed to her 14 points as well. Delaney Cooper made 3 threes as part of her 11 points on the night. Leading the E-gals was Jennifer Lee who made all 6 of free throws and scored 12 points. Dant followed behind with 11 points and 3 of 4 on free throws.
This win saw Owensboro Catholic advance to the championship match on Feb. 29 at 6 p.m. against Owensboro as well put them one step closer to possibly clinching their third district title in a row.
