With 9th and 12th District Championships having come and gone, Owensboro, Owensboro Catholic, Trinity and Apollo discovered their upcoming matchups for the 3rd Region Tournament on Saturday.
Boys 3rd Region draw
The Raiders are coming off of a heartbreaking loss, in which Grayson County defeated them 58-56 in the 12th District Championship at the buzzer. However, they had secured their spot in the 3rd Region Tournament, doing so for the first time since 2009.
And just like the 12th District Tournament, Trinity will have its work cut out for them in the 3rd Region. They are set to meet up with the Red Devils for the first time this season, going toe-to-toe in the first round at 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday.
“We’ll just have to come up with a gameplan,” West said. “I know Owensboro. They’re a tough team. They have a great record this year and they always are a tough team. But you know, for our goals we gotta beat the best. So that’s what we’re going to try and do.”
Having played at Owensboro Catholic in high school and paying attention to their games over the years, West knows his team will have to be prepared to take on an Owensboro team that will want to run them to death with their fullcourt pressure.
“We try to keep our things pretty simple, so I think we can hopefully control the pace a little bit,” West said. “We do have some height that is able to handle the ball, so I think that will help alleviate some pressure and we’ve been going over a couple of other press options.”
Drake and company were very happy with how the draw turned out, finding themselves on a different side of the bracket from rival Muhlenberg County, but they still know that any team in the region is a threat.
“Pretty pleased with it,” Drake said. “We got away from a few teams. So we can just play. I think this is the first time we’ve been opposite of Muhlenberg in the last 10 years… It still doesn’t matter. It’s wide open.”
Despite not having played Trinity since 2008, Drake recognizes the talent that the Raiders have had over the past few years and knows that they will be more than a formidable foe.
“They’re a pretty good ball club,” Drake said. “I’ve seen them beat some big schools and they get after it obviously. They’ve been tough the last couple of years. We haven’t played them in several years, but they’re a good basketball team. They’re well-coached and they’re going to get after it so we’ll have to be prepared. They didn’t back their way in here.”
On the other side of the bracket Owensboro Catholic got dealt a tough matchup, as they will face off against the Mustangs in the first round at 6 p.m. on Thursday. Muhlenberg County went undefeated in district play sitting at 15-11 overall and knows that they will have to battle their way to a win.
“They’re a grind it out team,” Riley said. “They will grind out a win. If they need to beat you 38-34, they will… I know they play great defense and they’re a veteran team. They are a deep veteran team.”
While the game isn’t exactly what the Aces hoped for, the two teams met once in the regular season. Owensboro Catholic came out on top in the matchup, winning 53-51 without key players Ji Webb and Parker Gray.
Despite suffering a tough loss against Owensboro in the 9th District Championship, with a healthy Brian Griffith ready to play Riley and the Aces feel like they have a shot to make a run if they take things one game at a time.
“We’re playing pretty good right now,” Riley said. “The first part of the year was rough. It was rough for all of us, because that schedule was not set up for the team that we had. Because we had those guys that didn’t come back and play and then we had those two [out]… We’ll have to play well. We’ll have to make some shots and make some good choices against Muhlenberg.”
All in all, the local coaches know that at the end of the day that anything can happen in the postseason and that the 3rd Region is filled with teams that can win the regional title.
“It’s anybody’s region,” West said. “You can go through everybody’s schedule and play the ‘this person beat that person’ game… Anybody can win on any given day.”
Girls 3rd Region draw
Following their recent 9th District Championship win over the E-gals, Owensboro Catholic will see Muhlenberg County in the first round of the 3rd Region Tournament. The Lady Aces will go to battle on Monday, taking on the Lady Mustangs at 6 p.m.
“They’re a young team,” Robertson said. “They really are. I’ll have to go back and watch film, but we’ll have to get after them full court and try to turn them over and hopefully get some easy buckets.”
Dealing with such a tough region, Robertson knows they didn’t get the friendliest of draws. There are four teams with 20-plus wins in the region including Owensboro Catholic and all four are on the top side of the bracket.
“We got a tough draw,” Robertson said. “You’ve got Muhlenberg County who’s always really good and then of course you’ve got Breck and Butler in the second game if we were to beat Muhlenberg. Both have 24, 25 wins respectively.”
Meanwhile, Apollo will be taking on a familiar foe, as they will face off with Ohio County at 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams met once in the regular season, where the E-gals defended their home floor by defeating the Lady Eagles 39-36.
“Ohio’s a really good team,” Payne said. “We went neck-and-neck with them at our place… They’re scrappy. They’ve got a rich tradition and Ted Hill is a great coach. He’ll have them ready and prepared. But we’re excited. We’re excited about the opportunity. We’re just excited to be here to be honest with you.”
The E-gals will have to tackle the challenge of shutting down senior big Rain Embry, who averages 10.5 ppg and 8.3 rpg. On top of that, Payne said Apollo must take care of the basketball to come away victorious.
“I think we have to make sure we do a good job on the boards with Rain,” Payne said. “She’s a force inside so Jenna’s got her work cut out for her, but we feel like we match up well there. And I think we just have to make sure that we’re valuing possessions… Every possession counts come tournament time and you have to make sure you’re taking your time and being patient when you need to and pushing when you need to.”
Payne and Apollo will be hopeful to have senior guard Amaya Curry to help orchestrate their offense on the floor this week as well, as she had to sit out the 9th District Championship due to an illness.
The E-gals will have a tough second round matchup as well if they defeat Ohio County, as they would be set to take on Edmonson County or the No. 10 state-ranked Meade County.
Taking a look at the field with a plethora of talented teams from top to bottom in the bracket, Robertson and Payne know that anyone can walk away with the 3rd Region Title when it’s all said and done.
“I think you’ve got your top tier and they’re really good I think,” Robertson said. “Meade is playing exceptionally well right now and then of course Breck. We played them at the very end of the year. Haven’t seen Butler County much, but that’s the most wins I’ve seen for four teams in our region ever.”
