With a final score of 68-61, Owensboro Catholic managed to outlast the Apollo Eagles on their homecourt Sunday afternoon.
In a rescheduled game at a peculiar start time, the Aces came out a little flatter than they were hoping. The slow start, coupled with a career day from Cameron Frantz, ensured a four-quarter battle for district supremacy.
Catholic head coach Tim Riley said after the game that he was happy with a win, but that he knew it would be closer than some may have expected.
“We didn’t do a very good job in the first half guarding Frantz,” Riley said. “I thought we played better defense in the second half, but we thought it was going to be tough coming in here today. Sometimes the kids think games might be easy, but there are certainly no easy district matchups, especially on the road.”
The Eagles started the game on fire from distance, converting six three-point attempts in the first half en route to a 31-24 advantage. With 5:25 to go in the first quarter, Harrison Bowman knocked down a triple to tie the game at 4, beginning a stretch of 18:37 of gameplay where the Eagles either led or the game was tied.
Finally, with 2:48 to go in the third quarter and the pressure mounting, Owensboro Catholic re-gained a slim, one-point advantage on a pair of made free throws by Brian Griffith. The lead continued to see-saw, however, all the way up until the final two minutes.
In the end, Griffith’s 14 second-half points, coupled with Ji Webb’s 18 points were the difference. After the junior guard was held scoreless in the first half, benched for a large part due to turnover issues, he managed to work his way back into the flow of the game, elevating the level of his teammates’ play around him.
For Apollo, the aforementioned Frantz led the team in scoring, pouring in a career-high 34 points, including seven made three-pointers.
Apollo head coach Mark Starns was complimentary of his senior guard following the impressive performance.
“Our guys showed a lot of grit and determination today,” he said. “We tried to hang tough down the stretch, and Cameron Frantz did an outstanding job offensively. He kept us in the ballgame with his shooting, but we weren’t able to pull it out. It felt like we outplayed them, but their role players in Scales and Gray hit some timely shots and put it away for them.”
Starns commented on the upcoming district matchup for his team.
“I keep telling the guys it just takes one game,” he said. “We’re obviously going to be playing either Owensboro Catholic or Owensoboro in the district tournament and I think we showed today that we can play with them. We will just need to build on the Butler County effort and the effort we had today and see what happens.”
Up next for Owensboro Catholic is a heavyweight district showdown with Owensboro on Tuesday night. The game will tip at 7:00 p.m. at the Sportscenter, with the winner securing the first overall seed in the district tournament.
For Apollo is a matchup with Russelville on their home court as they close out their season. That game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start time on Thursday night.
Owensboro Catholic 68, Apollo 61
OC (15-6) 17 7 23 21 — 68
A (4-12) 18 13 16 14 — 61
OC: Ji Webb 18, Sam McFarland 15, Brian Griffith 14, Luke Scales 12, Parker Gray 9
AHS: Cameron Frantz 34, Dan St. Claire 11, Jaden Kelly 6, Landon Hamilton 4, Harrison Bowman 4, Kyler Whited 2
2021 basketball coverage is presented in part by Rhoads & Rhoads Attorneys at Law.
