The Aces were in control of the game on both ends of the floor from the jump, stifling Owensboro at home 68-48 with an impressive showing from senior Brian Griffith as well to secure the No. 1 seed in the 9th District Tournament.
Owensboro Catholic wasted no time setting the tone for the game, going on a 6-0 run in the first two minutes of the game. The Red Devils broke the scoreless drought with a layup shortly after, but six straight for Owensboro Catholic again led to a 12-2 deficit for Owensboro with 5:04 to go in the first quarter.
After taking a 19-6 lead into the second the Aces continued to light it up, getting a three from senior Parker Gray, sophomore Luke Beickman and Griffith—continuing his strong start of 10 points in the first quarter—to take a 28-12 lead with 4:30 to go in the first half. Owensboro Catholic eventually built a 20-point lead, but the Red Devils were able to find their way inside to cut it to 37-23 going into the break.
But Owensboro’s night quickly soured, as Jalen Rogers was hurt and couldn’t play in the second half and with 1:50 to go in the quarter down 49-33 senior Kenyatta Carbon was called for a foul and then issued a technical shortly after that ended his night. The Aces kept rolling as well, with Griffith grabbing 14 points in the second half and leading their balanced attack to a 68-48 win and an unbeaten regular season in district play.
Griffith was putting on a show all night, slicing through defenders and knocking down shot after shot to lead all scorers with 26 points. However, it was his ability to share the ball amongst his teammates and make plays within the offense that allowed Beickman (13), junior Tutt Carrico (12) and Gray (10) to finish in double figures en route to the win as well.
“He was tremendous,” Riley said. “He was really good. He scored 26 points and he didn’t take a ton of bad shots. He’s grown up a whole lot. We used to play him and it was him and against them. He can’t beat them. He can help beat them with his teammates if he’ll use him and that’s been [a big part of] his growth as a person.”
This core was also a key factor in the Aces precise play on offense, limiting their turnovers throughout the contest and keeping Owensboro from getting to their bread and butter.
“We didn’t turn it over,” Riley said. “They live off of turnovers, transition and offensive rebounds. The first time we played them they scored 78 points and 35 of them were in transition, so that was a big emphasis… You’ve got to get back, you’ve gotta get in front of them and they gotta make shots over the top of you… They didn’t kill us in transition and we shot the ball well early I thought.”
This led to a rough night for the Red Devils offensively, with Carbon and senior Kanye Johnson serving as the only players in double figures with 13 and 12 points respectively. Owensboro falls to 14-9 overall and 4-2 in district play.
That solidifies them as the No. 2 seed in the 9th District, where they’ll see Daviess County in the first round. But first the Red Devils will get back to work on Tuesday, as they host Ohio County at home at 7 p.m.
Owensboro Catholic on the other hand improves to 23-3 and 6-0 in district play, making them the No. 1 seed and making their first round opponent the No. 4 seeded Apollo. While the Aces are more than happy to come away with the win, per usual their long-term focus is what’s on their mind.
“Up to this point we’re real pleased, but there’s a whole lot more left,” Riley said. “We want a whole lot more left, so we need to enjoy this tonight and then try to get back to work tomorrow.”
Afterwards Riley went on saying that Owensboro Catholic doesn’t beat Owensboro a lot, so when they can beat what he calls a top-five program in the history of Kentucky he wants his team to enjoy it—but know that this isn’t the end goal. The first step towards that goal is finishing the regular season strong, as the Aces are right back at it on the road Saturday against Warren East at 7:30 p.m.
