Finding themselves trailing Owensboro Catholic 44-40 after witnessing their 11-point second-half lead evaporate, Daviess County’s Jaxon Brown hit his biggest three of the night from the right corner- silencing the rambunctious Aces crowd. A defensive stop led to a DeAaron Watkins basket on the other end to retake the lead.
From there, the Panthers went on a 10-4 run to secure the ninth district championship game 55-49 – fueled by aggressive defensive and clutch free-throw shooting. This marked the team’s first district championship since the 2011-2012 season.
“Coach Riley does a good job, and his players make it tough,” Daviess County head coach Neil Hayden said. “We knew we were going to see the 1-3-1, and we got a little tight and stagnant. I thought that in the second half we were able to reset. We were betting at taking some gaps, trying to find the flow, and I thought we rebounded so we could run. That’s a tough team to beat.”
Daviess County took a commanding 18-8 lead entering the second quarter, with Brown, Aydan Ayer, and DeAaron Watkins combining for 16 points. On the cusp of being blown out early, the Aces defense woke up in the second quarter, holding the Panthers to eight points.
On the offensive side, Dre’Mail Carothers scored five of his 11 points in the quarter. Trailing by six with just seconds left in the opening half, Luke Beickman sprinted down the right side of the court and pulled up from deep to cut the lead to three at the buzzer.
“We got off to a poor start,” Owensboro Catholic head coach Tim Riley said. “We played kind of tentative and nervous, but we picked it up in the third and fourth quarter.”
The Panthers opened the second half on a 10-4 run to take an 11-point lead. Refusing to go away, the Aces’ Solly Smith took over the game. On the defensive end, the point guard hounded the opposition – recording multiple steals and scoring in transition.
“He has the ability to really impact the game defensively,” Riley said. With each steal and consequent layup, the Aces faithful woke up and took over the atmosphere.
On a night where the Panthers leading scorers Jonathan Moss and Watkins combined for 10 points, it was the senior leaders that stepped up. After only scoring two points in the first half, Joe Varble scored seven points in the third quarter, while Brown and Ayer combined for six threes on the night.
“We have three seniors that have played a lot of basketball and that are huge to what we are doing. They have been great in this district tournament, and we need every bit of what they have. We aren’t just Watkins and Moss. Even Kayden came off the bench and played some important minutes. It is going to take everyone to win.”
Brown scored 14 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, while Ayer hit three threes to go along with his 13 points. Varble recorded nine points and nine rebounds, while Watkins finished with six points, eight rebounds, two blocks, and one assist. Moss led the team in assists with 10.
Despite recovering from a hand injury, Luke Beickman hit three threes to go along with his team-high 14 points. Smith was second on the Aces in scoring with 12 points.
Both teams have advanced to the 3rd region tournament, with the draw being announced later this morning. To go deep into the tournament, Hayden wants the Panthers to stay together and stay committed. Riley wants the Aces to quit having struggles on the offensive end and to keep moving the ball till they find an open look.
