It didn’t matter where Jonathan Moss pulled up from behind the arc – be it contested in the corner, from the top of the arc, or even a few steps past NBA range. The junior splashed five threes to go along with his game-high 26 points to help Daviess County pull off the road win against Owensboro Catholic 60-43.
It was another typic performance for Moss, who entering the night was averaging 20 points and shooting 40% from deep. A big game player, Daviess County head coach Neil Hayden stated after the game that his point guard looks forward to these types of matchups.
“Moss was confident and he was jelling,” Hayden said. “He knew his spots and we missed him because he should have touched it more. He likes these games and wants to play in these types of games. You can see it in his body language.”
In their first matchup a few weeks ago at Daviess County, the two teams went to double overtime before the Aces pulled away. Round two started slow, with the Aces taking a 10-7 lead into the second quarter and a 24-22 lead into halftime. Solly Smith scored all eight of his points in the first half, while Waryn Ebelhar and Dre’Mail Carothers both added a basket in the first quarter.
Luke Beickman scored eight of his 10 points in the second quarter – including a flurry of acrobatic finishes at the rim. Owensboro Catholic were at their best tonight when attacking the rim, an aspect they started to ignore in the second half. Beickman was held scoreless for the rest of the game.
DeAaron Watkins scored his lone field goal in the second quarter for the Panthers, while Jaxon Brown and Moss combined for three threes and 13 points. At halftime, Hayden didn’t make any defensive adjustments, instead urging his team to stick to and execute their gameplan.
“We stuck with what we were trying to do what we didn’t do in the first half,” Hayden said. “I thought our offense dictated our defense.”
Vince Carrico started off the third quarter by hitting a jump shot to push the Aces lead to four, but the Panthers responded with an 14-0 run. Joe Varble, Kaden Payne, Moss, Watkins, and Brown all scored during that span.
After a timeout, the Aces started to claw back thanks to a pair of clutch threes by Davyn Randolph. Trailing 40-36 entering the fourth quarter, Carothers scored in the paint to cut the lead to two. This was the closest the Owensboro Catholic would get for the rest of the game.
Aces head coach Tim Riley attributed his team’s loss to being outshot at the free throw line 20-2.
“You can’t win a game like that,” Riley said. “I am not putting any of the blame on the refs. We did not play aggressively. They hit eight threes, and we made three. It’s hard to play a basketball game when you can’t score. It was a four point game entering the fourth quarter and I think we had four turnovers in the first four minutes.”
Moss finished with 26 points, six rebounds, and two assists, while Brown added 11 points, one assist, and one steal. Watkins led the team in rebounds with nine and Aydan Ayer dished out seven assists.
For the Aces, Davyn Randolph hit three threes, and Logan Hamilton, Carothers, and Carrico all finished with four points. Owensboro Catholic is back in action Saturday against Meade County and has three games to finish out next week.
The Panthers are off till Tuesday when they host Grayson County and then end their regular season Thursday on the road at Madisonville-North Hopkins.
Lady Aces beat Apollo
In the first game of the doubleheader, the Lady Aces handled Apollo 66-24. In her return from injury, Karmin Riley hit five threes to go along with her game-high 23 points. Aubrey Randolph added 12 points and Riley Skye was third on the team in scoring with six points. Allie Marston also returned after missing a few games, scoring five points.
“I thought we played hard,” Owensboro Catholic head coach Michael Robertson said. “It was good to see Karmin and Allie get back on the court after being out for a few games.”
For the E-Gals, Eriyah Curry hit four threes to go along with her 14 points. Emersyn Bullington (3), Maleah Potter (2), Mattingly Taylor (2), LaShay Vera (2), and Jessica Lee (1) rounded out the teams scoring.
