It wasn’t pretty at times, but Daviess County found a way to prevail – defeating Owensboro 72-62 to advance to the 9th district championship and secure a bid in the 3rd regional tournament. The Panthers saw their 19 point second half lead trimmed to four, but thanks to clutch free throw shooting over the last four minutes, they were able to shut the door.
“Owensboro did a good job of getting in the lane and grabbing offensive rebounds,” Daviess County head coach Neil Hayden said. “I have a ton of respect for Owensboro and coach Drake. We knew when we were up 14 at half that they weren’t going to quit. It was a 9th district game, and teams are fighting to survive.”
Daviess County took a commanding 21-8 lead entering the second quarter thanks to hot shooting by Jaxon Brown and Aydan Ayer. The two combined for four threes and 16 points.
After only scoring four points in the first quarter, Owensboro’s Michael Acton exploded for 11 of his game-high 24 points in the second quarter. The sophomore repeatedly found success penetrating the paint and attacking the rim.
Daviess County made sure to target Acton in the second half, holding him to nine points for the rest of the game.
“We wanted to find him early in transition,” Hayden said. “He can really drive downhill and he’s a very good player. We wanted to keep him out of the middle as much as we could because he has a really good midrange. He is hard to stay in front of.”
Jonathan Moss and DeAaron Watkins carried the load offensively in the second quarter for the Panthers, combining for 11 points, while Brown and Kaden Payne each hit a three.
Up 38-24 at halftime, Daviess County opened the second half on a 13-8 run to take a commanding 19-point lead. On the cusp of being blown out, Owensboro began to slowly chip away at the lead. After only scoring two points in the first half, Keaton Hughes scored 12 of his 19 points in the third quarter.
“I don’t think he was doing anything different,” Hayden said. “I just think he made some shots and we weren’t finding him early enough.”
Trailing 53-40 at the start of the fourth quarter, Owensboro cut the lead to four thanks to huge threes by Cade Arnold and Hughes and Acton returning to attacking the paint. After a timeout with just over three minutes left in the game, Daviess County regained their composure and began to find themselves at the line – shooting 19-24 down the stretch. All 19 of the Panther’s fourth-quarter points came from the stripe.
Will Hume hit two threes for the Red Devils to go along with his nine points, while Arnold added all five of his points in the fourth quarter.
Brown hit three threes to go along with his team-high 23 points, while Watkins recorded a double-double of 14 points and 16 rebounds. Ayer recorded 15 points, three rebounds, three assists, and one steal, while Moss added 13 points, four assists, and two rebounds.
Daviess County awaits the winner of Apollo and Owensboro Catholic in the 9th district championship game.
“Defensively we have to be better at staying in front and we have to be better at rebounding,” Hayden said. “Offensively, we have to keep playing to rhythm, keep playing, and don’t settle.”
After the game, Owensboro head coach Rod Drake was candid of his team’s performance.
“We played hard all year, but like tonight we just walk through the first halves of games,” Drake said.
