Owensboro Catholic will look to carry its momentum from a tough 3rd Region Championship win into Wednesday morning, hoping to continue their winning ways and avenge a regular season loss to Bowling Green in the opening round of the Girls Basketball Sweet 16 Tournament.
The Lady Aces are clicking at the right time as of late, having won seven straight including their 9th District Championship win, a semifinal win against 3rd Region powerhouse Meade County and a 46-37 3rd Region Championship win over Owensboro on Sunday. This wasn’t always the case though, as Owensboro Catholic had hit a rough patch in early February.
The Lady Aces were faced with an extremely tough schedule to start the month, taking on four of the better teams in the state. After falling to Owensboro for the first time since 2009 on Feb. 10, Head Coach Michael Robertson said that the team had some reflecting to do on what they needed to accomplish the goals they’d set out for the season.
“We played Meade, Owensboro, Bowling Green—which is going to be the next three that we have played—and then Henderson,” Robertson said. “After the Owensboro game we had a real heart-to-heart… Just told them ‘we do a lot of talking about what we want to do and how we want to play and we want to get back to state and do this, but I said I’m not seeing it on the court and I’m not seeing it in practice. So, what are you going to do? We’re doing all we can as coaches, I need y’all to hold up your end of the bargain.’”
This led to a great game against the Lady Purples, but Robertson said that Owensboro Catholic let it slip away and ended up losing on the road 55-54 to extend their losing streak at the time to three games. Owensboro Catholic lost its next game against Henderson County as well on Feb. 11, but the Lady Aces haven’t lost since and are riding a seven-game winning streak.
While those trials and tribulations might have been tough for the team to go through, Robertson said it taught Owensboro Catholic a lot about themselves and has helped better prepare for each and every game.
“It was a part of that learning curve,” Robertson said. “We as coaches have kind of learned our team and how to kind of get on them. We’ve learned when to get on them and when not to get on them. We’re starting to push the right buttons and it’s the right time to be pushing the right buttons, so hopefully we can continue to do that this week.”
Of course having plenty of experience on the roster helps as well, as the Lady Aces have four that will get to make their first appearance in the state tournament. This is a big moment for the group, having their first chance taken away by the pandemic when the tournament was canceled three years ago.
Robertson is more than happy to have been able to get the seniors the chance that they deserved, saying that telling them they couldn’t compete at Rupp Arena years ago was an extremely difficult thing to do.
“That’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, going out and telling my team I’m sorry we can’t play,” Robertson said. “We didn’t get to decide that. Mother nature, the pandemic decided that one. Getting back up here for those girls is exceptional for us and I’m happy for them.”
But along with those seniors are plenty of impact players for Owensboro Catholic—with a big three made up of junior Hailee Johnson (12.9 ppg), sophomore Karmin Riley (10.9 ppg) and sophomore Aubrey Randolph (9.7 ppg). With Johson and Riley established as leading scorers from a year ago, Randolph has been a rising star for the Lady Aces this season by taking on a much larger role and has even more room to grow in the future according to Robertson.
“She is that player who doesn’t believe in herself as much as she should,” Robertson said. “She just lacks that confidence I guess you could say, but she’s really flourished this year. She’s brought new confidence and new ability that we’ve gotten out of her and I think the sky’s the limit for her. I think she can be the best player on my team, it’s just a matter of getting it out of her. She’s definitely the most athletic on my team. She’s got the biggest upside. She’s long, athletic, and can jump out of the gym. She can shoot the ball, handle the ball.”
Another key development for Owensboro Catholic is getting some consistent offensive help from other role players such as Maddie Hayden, Lauren and Lexie Keelin and especially Jenna Krampe who has become a huge presence for the Lady Aces inside off the bench—most recently scoring 11 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter of the 3rd Region Championship victory.
“She’s just come in and hasn’t played scared,” Robertson said. “She just is what she is… She’s just going to play hard. She’s that one girl that’s not going to back down from anybody. She’s probably the strength that we need and that physical force that we’ll need on Wednesday morning against Bowling Green.”
Owensboro Catholic will have their work cut out for them on Wednesday against the Lady Purples, facing a team that has a number of offensive threats and will look to run rampant all game long. One of those threats is senior Meadow Tisdale (13.3 ppg), who joins fellow seniors Tanaya Bailey (10.9 ppg) and Saniyah Shelton (10.1 ppg) in averaging double figures.
Tisdale did not play when Bowling Green defeated the Lady Aces 55-54 in early February and they are currently riding a six-game winning streak of their own, as Robertson and company expect a hard fought battle for all 32 minutes.
“We played them and Meadow didn’t play,” Robertson said. “She’s a big part of their team… They’ve been pretty dominant since we played them. I look forward to it. I think it’ll be a challenge for us. They like to get up and down the court and run, so it should be a real exciting game.”
The two are set to face off at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, with Owensboro Catholic looking to grab its first Sweet 16 win since the 2018-19 season. While the Lady Aces will surely watch plenty of film and be dialed in during practice to best prepare themselves to handle the Lady Purples, Robertson said at this point of the year he wants his team to stick to what makes them special and be ready for whatever challenges may come their way in order to survive and advance.
“I think at this time of the season it’s a lot about just being who you are and sticking with it, not trying to go away from too much of what you’ve done all year,” Robertson said. “You’ve done something right to get here. So you don’t want to veer too far away from that, but at the same time you want to be mentally prepared for what the other team might have in store for you and be ready to take advantage of the mismatches that you have.”
