Owensboro cruised their way into the Final Four of the regional tournament after a 70-33 blowout victory over Grayson County. Karmin Riley’s 4 threes broke Owensboro Catholic’s record for most career three pointers that was previously held by Rebecca Greenwell.
Jenna Krampe opened the game’s scoring in fashion with a converted and-1 play. After a quick stop the Lady Aces moved up the floor and found Riley for her first three of the game. Riley found her rhythm early on in the game as she made 3 threes and scored 13 of Owensboro Catholic’s 20 points in the first quarter. They also aggressively went for rebounds with the likes of Randolph and Krampe both getting offensive rebounds that led to second chance points. Catholic had a comfortable 20-8 lead going into the second quarter.
Lady Aces star player and District Player of the Year Hailee Johnson left the court early in the first quarter with an injury that has yet to be determined. Head coach Michael Robertson said the team was worried about Johnson, but eventually found their flow back on the court.
“I think at first we kind of just worried about her,” he said. “Once we got back in the flow they started working. The young girls really stepped up and played well. I think Katie Hagan and Layla Martin played loose and were able to get up and let those nerves out and just play basketball. I think that helped. I think our defense was really good tonight, especially in the second half.”
Aubrey Randolph kept the offensive momentum going by driving into the paint and drawing a foul on her bucket to open the quarter. The Lady Aces clamped down on defense as well as they held Grayson to just 7 points in the quarter. Owensboro Catholic continued to find success from the three point line as Delaney Cooper made 2 and Riley made 1 to close out the half with OCHS leading 36-15.
Grayson made 2 back-to-back threes to open the third, but OCHS responded with 9 straight points. Katie Hagan scored 6 of those 9 points and had 8 total in the quarter. After a three from Grayson, Hagan got a steal right before the buzzer sounded. The third quarter with Catholic leading 55-28. Taylor Mannahan assisted Cooper on a fast break to open the final quarter. Randolph had 2 back-to-back drives through the lane shortly after followed by a fast break layup by Krampe. After Payton Arnold hit a three pointer, Claudia Munsey made 2 free throws to close out the game at 70-33.
Riley led the Lady Aces in scoring with 4 threes to go along with her 18 points. Cooper followed behind with 3 threes and 13 points. Hagan and Krampe both scored 9 points on the night as well.
With this win Owensboro Catholic moves on to the Final Four where they will face off against Meade County on Friday at 7:45 p.m. Robertson acknowledged that the team will have a challenging game against Meade considering they could possibly be without Johnson.
“We’ve got our word cut out for us,” he said. “We’ll have a tough one on Friday night against Meade County because they can score the ball. We’re going to have to be able to guard them. I don’t know what we’ll have. I don’t know if we’ll have Hailee or not, but whether we do or not we’ll have to go out and play this game.”
