Owensboro Catholic held off reigning champions Owensboro to win 47-41 and advance to their 9th straight district championship game. Luke Beickman led the charge for the Aces scoring 28 of their 47 points. The Aces and Red Devils put on a show for the loud crowd in attendance as the game saw both teams lead the game by about 10 points before 2 lead changes shifted the tides.
Neither team could get a clear advantage early on as both defenses were locking down the paint. Keaton Hughes got two early back-to-back blocks to defend Owensboro’s 11-7 lead, but the Aces utilized their long range as Waryn Ebelhar followed up a three by Beickman with one of his own. Ebelhar’s three pointer tied the game up at 13-13. Catholic held a 1-point lead by the end of the first quarter at 15-14.
Ebelhar then opened the second quarter up with a steal that led to an easy layup. After a bucket by Owensboro, both teams went a short stretch where their defenses once again got stop after stop on each other. It was broken up by two free throws followed by a corner three from Beickman to put the Aces’ lead at 24-16. Michael Acton pulled up for two mid range jumpers, and he and Dayshaun Sanders both made free throws to give OHS the lead back at 25-24 just as the buzzer for halftime sounded.
The third quarter started with a quick stop by the Red Devils that led to a breakaway basket for Will Hume. Another OHS stop gave way for a contested mid range jumper for Hume. OCHS struggled to find success on offense as OHS extended their lead from halftime to 10 points at 36-26 thanks to a steal and a three pointer by Sanders. Hughes continued to lock down the post with two more big blocks.
Hughes finished with an impressive 18 rebounds and about 5 blocks, but Catholic only allowed him 4 points. This was a big part of OCHS head coach Tim Riley’s gameplan coming into the game.
“I thought one of our big keys that game was that we did a great job on their big,” he said. “He had 4 points. The point is what we were really worried about. Our kids did a great job of attacking him and making him uncomfortable. We doubled him every time. We tried to make it just two, but sometimes it was more than that.”
The Aces got moving again on offense after Vince Carrico found Kaiser Frick cutting to the basket for 2. Will Rickard maneuvered his way through the post for a layup to end the quarter at 38-31 with OHS leading.
The fourth quarter saw Owensboro Catholic go on a scoring run that started with a pull-up jumpshot from Beickman at mid range. Another stretch of back and forth stops by both defenses raised the stakes higher as the clock winded down. Beickman continued the scoring run for Catholic with a finish under the rim through contact. After an OHS free throw from Rickard, the lead changed hands again after Beickman’s and-1 play brought the score to 40-39 with a little over 2 minutes left in the game. Beickman’s performance in crunch time drew praise from Riley as he said Beickman has a gear that most other athletes don’t have.
“You know what, he’s just a pretty good player,” he said. “Really good players step up in big moments, and he’s got a gear out there that most people don’t have. He had an extra gear to go to, and that’s why.”
OCHS held a tight defense throughout the final quarter as OHS only managed to score 3 points in the fourth. With just under a minute left and the Red Devils bringing the ball up, Dre’mail Carothers got a big steal that gave the Aces possession. After 2 free throws from Frick, Kaden Kizer’s driving layup put OHS down by just 2 points. Hume got a steal on the next play, but a stop by Catholic sealed the game. Beickman made 2 more free throws and a breakaway layup to close out the game at 47-41.
Beickman’s 28 points, 2 threes and 8 out of 8 free throws led the Aces in scoring. The next highest points for OCHS was scored by Frick who had a three to go align with his 10 points. Leading the Red Devils in scoring was Sanders who made 2 threes and scored 17 points while shooting 5 of 6 from the free throw line. Acton followed behind with 10 points on the night as well.
Owensboro won the last 5 district championships, but their streak ended with this defeat. Their overall season record was 13-13. OHS head coach Rod Drake said this game played out like the rest of their season where they got too comfortable with their lead. He said the team will just have to pack it up and get ready for next year.
Daviess County haven’t made it to the championship game since 2017, and Catholic have won the first 3 games of their 9 consecutive championship games. A new district champion will be crowned on March 1 as Owensboro Catholic will take on Daviess County in the championship game at 6 p.m. at Apollo High School.
