Owensboro wasn’t able to get enough floor spacing to help its offense thrive, as its season came to an end in the 3rd Region Semifinal with a 56-40 loss to the Cougars on Saturday afternoon.
The Red Devils grabbed the first points of the game in less than ten seconds, as junior Kenyatta Carbon was fouled on a mid-range jumper and went 1-2 at the line. However, McLean County responded with a 7-0 run, taking a 7-1 lead with 4:24 left in the first quarter.
The Cougars continued to stifle Owenbsoro’s offense throughout the quarter, as junior Jaxon Floyd was able to lay it in just before the buzzer to give them a 13-6 lead going into the second.
The Red Devils luck offensively didn’t change in the second, as McLean County made it difficult for Carbon and Amari Robinson-Wales to get inside to score or create offense for others. These struggles eventually led to a 10-0 run for the Cougars, as Floyd found junior Evan Ward with a nifty pass for a layup to make it 25-8 with 2:06 left in the first half.
McLean County was only able to get one more basket in the half, but they were able to hold Owensboro scoreless and head into halftime owning a 27-8 lead. The Cougars had done a good job of being patient offensively in the first half, but they knew the Red Devils weren’t going to go down without a fight and that they had to continue to take care of the ball..
“I felt like we did pretty good for the most part,” said Head Coach Darren Lynam. “We re-emphasized that at halftime. We knew they were going to come feed. At that point in the game it was 27-8, we knew they were really going to come feed.”
Owensboro did just that, having Carbon face-guard Floyd while the team brought forth immediate fullcourt pressure as a whole. This helped the Red Devils grab five quick points, but McLean County responded swiftly.
Junior Evan Ward knocked down a corner three with 2:35 left in the third, giving the Cougars a 34-13 lead. But Owensboro was relentless in its fullcourt press and was able to create some turnovers to go on a 6-0 run to make it a 34-20 with a minute to go in the quarter.
Despite being held to just seven points in the third, McLean County was able to hold Owensboro to 14 and hang on to a 36-22 lead heading into the fourth. A big factor in the Cougars being able to withstand the Red Devils pressure was guard play from junior Jaxon Floyd, who controlled the tempo of the game all night by knowing when to pick his spots to attack and create for others.
“He controlled the ball,” said Head Coach Rod Drake. “Then after Caymen got hurt we tried to deny him the ball and it didn’t work. He kind of took over there in the second half. He’s a tough basketball player.”
Owensboro was able to cut its deficit to as low as 41-31 with 2:33 left to play, but McLean County’s 3-2 zone continued to clog the lane and force them to take jumpers to try and make up the difference. Not only did the zone lead to struggles from beyond the arc, but it limited Robinson-Wales ability to score and create for others from the middle of the floor.
“We had our zone designed to where we had a quicker guy in the high post to guard him (Amari) and we had Dame down low,” Lynam said. “We made a little switch there. I wanted Dame down low to cover the baseline.”
While constantly putting the Cougars on the line for the final 2:33 of the game, Owensboro was having to try and claw its way back into the game from deep and just couldn’t find the bottom of the net. The Red Devils ended up going 3-29 in the game and it ultimately led to a 56-40 loss, as their season came to a close via an upset by McLean County in the 3rd Region Semifinals.
“We played well,” Lynam said. “We knew they weren’t the best three-point shooters in the world. Their name of the game is get the ball to the basket. We just basically tried to stack five guys in the lane for lack of better words.”
Drake felt like Owensboro was just outmatched in terms of the physicality in the game, saying that it’s been an issue throughout the season.
“They out-toughed us and that’s been one of our problems all year long,” Drake said. “We just weren’t tough enough. We had everything the way it was and we just didn’t have guys to step up… When we weren’t pressing and getting up into people we played on our heels and they took advantage of it.”
Senior Brady Dame led all scorers with 20 points, serving as a dominant force inside. Floyd followed as the only other player in double figures with 12.
The dynamic duo led the charge offensively for McLean County all night long, as they secured their spot in the program’s first ever regional championship game.
“Right now, I’m just enjoying this win,” Lynam said. “Then of course as you know it’s a quick turnaround. We’ve gotta play the winner on Tuesday night to try and win the whole thing. So it’s basically right back to the drawing board for now.”
Meanwhile, Robinson-Wales was the only player to finish with more than seven points for Owensboro with a team-leading 19. The loss put a close on the career of Robinson-Wales, who scored 1,000 points and was a force to be reckoned with all season long.
“Amari had a decent season,” Drake said. “I thought at times Amari just wasn’t assertive enough. Without him we wouldn’t be here, so I’m glad he came back. Obviously he didn’t accomplish what he wanted to do, which was get back to the state tournament, but you know Amari got some looks. So I’m glad he came back.”
The upset cuts the Red Devils season short, as they fall in the 3rd Region Semifinal and sit at 22-8 overall on the season.
