Since Tim Riley took over as the head coach of Owensboro Catholic’s boys’ basketball team at the start of the 2015-2016 season, the Aces have yet to lose in the 9th district tournament opener. Last night was no different, with the Aces holding off a late Apollo surge to win 51-50.
“Through the years I have had great competitive teams, and we have had great basketball players,” Riley said. “This is not some genius coaching.”
It was a gutty performance from Owensboro Catholic who were out rebounded and saw an off game from leading scorer Luke Beickman. The senior missed three of the team’s last four regular season games and was wearing a brace on his hand. Battling foul trouble and only scoring seven points, Waryn Ebelhar, Solly Smith, and Dre’Mail Carothers picked up the offensive load – combining for 39 points.
“I am just happy we advanced,” Riley said.
In the first quarter, the Aces had no answer for Apollo’s Kobe Kelly, who hit three of his six threes in the opening eight minutes.
“Our defensive game plan for him wasn’t very good,” Riley said. “We came out and started with a 1-3-1, so there wasn’t one person that was supposed to have him. Then he made a couple of shots out of transition, but he didn’t score much when we got to him.”
The senior slowed down a bit in the middle of the game, hitting a three in the second quarter and a pair of free-throws in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, he hit two threes, including one that came as time expired.
“Kobe is a winner and he hit six threes,” Apollo head coach Ryne Tinsley said. “That is what seniors do; they don’t want to go home. They had a few seniors that didn’t want to go home either. Kobe is just a phenomenal kid.”
Owensboro Catholic led by 10 in the second half, but some unforced turnovers and fouls allowed Apollo to stick around. Tate Powers scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half – hitting two big threes and continuously finding himself at the line.
After cutting the lead to four, Apollo had a few opportunities to cut even deeper into the lead, but came up empty. Tinsley liked his team’s looks down the stretch and their aggressiveness.
“We missed a few defensive assignments, but overall, we did a pretty good job. We just didn’t hit enough shots. It was 51-50 and we were right there, but we just didn’t quite get it done tonight.”
Next year Apollo returns five of their seven core players, but will be without Kelly and Luke Jarboe due to graduation.
“I am super proud of Kobe and Luke,” Tinsley said. “They completely changed our program. …We just had phenomenal kids, and they want to play college basketball and I will make sure they will.”
The Aces have punched their ticket to the 3rd regional tournament and now turn their attention to the 9th district championship where Daviess County awaits. The two teams split in the regular season, with the road team winning both games.
