The Lady Aces were locked in defensively on Saturday afternoon, holding Meade County to single digits in the third and stifling sophomore Peyton Bradley throughout the game to grab a 54-49 win and advance to the 3rd Region Championship for the first time in three years.
Owensboro Catholic got off to a strong start, getting the first bucket of the night on a short corner jumper from senior Maddie Hayden while also holding the Lady Waves scoreless for the first three and a half minutes of the game. But a three from Meade County got them going, starting a back-and-forth affair that led to Meade taking a 13-10 lead into the second thanks to a late three from Bradley.
The Lady Waves were holding onto a 21-16 lead almost halfway through the second, but a quick 5-0 run sparked by a three from senior Katie Riney and a layup plus the foul for Hayden to bring it within one. She missed the free throw and Meade County got a bucket on the other end, but senior Lauren Keelin answered with a three in transition to knot things up at 23-23 with 3:45 to go in the first half.
Owensboro Catholic was able to stay hot to close out the quarter, taking the lead on a steal and transition layup for junior Jenna Krampe at the two-minute mark—later counting on a three from Lauren Keelin again to make it a 30-27 Lady Aces lead heading into the break.
But in the third quarter Owensboro Catholic swung momentum its way with its defense, holding the Lady Waves to five points in the quarter to take a 43-32 lead into the fourth. Lauren Keelin and sophomore Karmin Riley also hit big three when it mattered during the stretch, as Keelin got the last five of her team-leading 15 points to help the Lady Aces grow their lead to double digits.
Owensboro stayed strong early in the fourth as well, using a layup by junior Hailee Johnson and a three from Riley to make a quick 5-0 run and make it 48-36 with 5:43 to play. But Meade County wasn’t going away, chomping at the lead bit-by-bit before a steal by Bradley led to a layup from junior Paige Medley and a 50-45 Lady Aces lead with 1:26 to play.
Less than 30 seconds later the Lady Waves got another steal, as Bradley was fouled and sank both at the line to make it 50-47 with 1:05 to play. After wasting some clock Johnson was fouled, going on to sink both to make it 52-47 with 36.1 seconds to play.
After Meade County had cut it to three again with 6.3 seconds to play Johnson was sent to the charity stripe again, sinking two more free throws to put the finishing touches on a 54-49 win that sends the Lady Aces to the 3rd Region Championship.
While Owensboro Catholic really had to battle late to secure the win, Head Coach Michael Robertson was pleased with the way his team handled business on the defensive end.
“We came out man-to-man and we [executed],” Robertson said. “I’m not going to say I know anything more than anybody else, but we knew how we wanted to guard them and we did a good job of executing how we wanted to guard them. We had a 12-point game with four minutes left and we were in a nailbiter there at the end, but we got more points than them and that’s all that matters at the end of the day.”
The Lady Aces threw multiple defensive schemes at Meade County throughout the night, something that helped them limit their leading scorer Bradley to just two baskets and a 6-6 mark at the line in the contest.
“I think our defense really threw them off. I don’t know that they anticipated us playing man and then we played a little bit of a 1-3-1 where we really weren’t coming out to trap except when it got to that deep corner. We found some success with that.”
Owensboro Catholic on the other hand got offensive contributions from seven different players on the night, knocking down eight threes and going 8-12 from the line while Keelin’s 15 and Johnson’s 12 points led the way.
“Hailee Johnson did a great job,” Robertson said. “Jenna Krampe did a good job. Lauren Keelin played one heck of a game. She played a heck of a game and I’m proud of her. She came in and hit some big shots for us. She was unconscious. She didn’t think and sometimes you need that in these games.”
Robertson and company were thrilled to come away with the win, securing a spot in the 3rd Region Championship and a chance at a trip to state. Having not been to the 3rd Region Championship since they won in 2019 and not being able to compete at state because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Robertson was a little choked up seeing his team’s hard work come to fruition with a big win against the Lady Waves.
“I’m not surprised,” Robertson said. “I know what this team’s capable of, but we beat a really good team today and my whole goal all year has been to get these girls back [here]. Because they were there their freshman year and COVID took it away from them. [We’ve] just [been] trying to get back there for them.”
The Lady Aces now see themselves taking on 9th District rival Owensboro once again, this time with a 3rd Region Championship on the line at 3 p.m. on Sunday. The two teams have met three times this season, with Owensboro Catholic going 2-1 and the most recent win being in the 9th District Championship by a score of 52-43.
