Owensboro Catholic took the court at the Owensboro Sportscenter for just the sixth time this season on Friday night as the Lady Aces went to battle against the visitors from Breckinridge County.
Unfortunately for the home team, missed free throws and a large pile of turnovers proved to be insurmountable roadblocks on the path to a would-be victory as the Lady Tigers prevailed by a final scoreline of 48-39 in the 3rd Region matchup.
Although the final tally would not show it, the game amounted to a high-octane affair, with buckets being swapped for much of the game. The loss for the Lady Aces was their first of the year, bringing their record to 5-1.
For Owensboro Catholic, senior guard Catherine Head led the way by scoring 11 of her team’s 39 points. Head was asked to take on the brunt of the ballhandling duties on the night, as the Lady Aces were without starting point guard Katie Riney for the contest.
After the game, Lady Aces head coach Michael Robertson commented on the craziness of coaching a competitive sport in the middle of such unprecedented times.
“The start of the season has been a pretty start-stop kind of thing for us,” Robertson said. “I don’t want to make excuses because everyone is going through it, but we have had upwards of 10 different players in the rotation for us so far this season. I like the pieces we have, I just need to find out where they all go. I have full faith in our team and I’m hopeful we can put it together by the end of the year.”
For three and a half quarters of the game, it felt like the Lady Aces might do just that. Following a made jump shot by Head with 5:45 remaining in the final period of play, Catholic trailed by only one point at 40-39. However, the home team failed to put any more points on the board, missing several tightly-contested shots and a flurry of late-game free throws after entering the bonus.
On the opposite side of the result, the Lady Tigers took advantage of errant passes and turnovers down the stretch, riding the momentum of their tenacious full-court press. Though Breckinridge County had just two scorers in double digits, missed opportunities by the Lady Aces ensured a comfortable margin of victory in the end.
Perhaps the most lopsided statistic in the game came by way of free throw attempts, as Breckinridge County attempted 21 free throws in the game, while Owensboro Catholic managed just 9 such attempts. Though both teams struggled to convert those attempts, the Lady Tigers ended up with a five-point advantage from the charity stripe. A positive free-throw margin underlined Breckinridge’s ability to play tight defense without fouling, forcing Owensboro Catholic out of their otherwise methodical offensive scheme.
“We didn’t come to meet our passes well tonight at all,” Robertson said. “When you don’t do that, you will either foul the defender or end up giving them easy layups, and that’s what happened tonight. Breckinridge County is one of the better teams in our region, and they played us tough tonight. We will get them again in two weeks, and I told the girls I’d like to see where we’re at when we play them again.”
The Lady Aces are slated to take on Christian Academy of Louisville Saturday at home.
Breckinridge County 48, Owensboro Catholic 39
BC (8-1) 11 12 12 13 — 48
OC (5-1) 10 11 13 5 — 39
BC: Sydney Tucker 16, Isabel Grimes 10, Skylar Tucker 8, Cassidy McDaniel 6, Aleigha Mucker 6, Caroline Lucas 2
OC: Catherine Head 11, Ally Maggard 6, Rachel Traylor 6, Camille Conkright 4, Maddie Hayden 4, Keshlynn Rice 4, Brooke Hamilton 2, Kinsley Goetz 2
2021 basketball coverage is presented in part by Rhoads & Rhoads Attorneys at Law.
