Griffith, Aces pull away late

Dec. 17—Owensboro Catholic senior guard Brian Griffith scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter, and the Aces turned up the defensive pressure in the final frame to capture a 54-46 district win over Daviess County Friday night at the Sportscenter.

Griffith's bucket to open the fourth keyed a 15-4 run, fueled by defensive pressure and forcing turnovers by the Aces (6-0, 2-0 in 9th District). Catholic extended its one-point lead to a 47-35 advantage after a pair of Jody Hobgood free throws with 4:23 remaining.

DC (2-5, 0-2) cut the deficit to five points on two occasions within the final 3:10 but were unable to get any closer from there.

"(DC) did a nice job of how they attacked our press in the first half, because we weren't getting to spots," OCHS coach Tim Riley said afterward. "We made some adjustments in it and, finally, we started getting a little comfortable with it, and we made some good choices and got some traps early in it, which we didn't get in the first half at all.

"When you press like that, you want to play even and then you want to have a couple runs. I don't think we had a couple, but we had that one big one."

The biggest benefactor in his team's defensive effort, Riley said, was Griffith.

"He was big in the game," Riley said. "He was the difference. With us pressing, that's where he should be — he should be getting stuff in the open court. He gets it in the open court, he's hard to deal with."

Jody Hobgood added 11 points for the Aces, who made 21-of-53 shots from the floor (39%) and only 1-of-11 from 3-point range (10%) and 11-of-24 at the foul line (45%) with 11 turnovers.

"He just continues to contribute, continues to be a force," Riley said of Hobgood, a 6-foot-4 junior center who helped OCHS win the rebounding battle 31-25 and take a 10-2 edge in second-chance points. "What he does best right now is go rebound. He's good on the offensive glass."

Gage Phelps scored 10 points to pace DC, which connected on 19-of-46 shots from the field (41%), 2-of-13 from beyond the arc (15%) and 6-of-8 at the free-throw line (75%) with 10 turnovers. Jaxon Brown chipped in nine points, and Evan Hillard led the Panthers with six rebounds.

Catholic plays again Monday against Webster County in the First United Bank Holiday Classic in Madisonville, while the Panthers will play Taylor County in the Rafferty's Caveland Classic on Wednesday in Brownsville.

DAVIESS COUNTY12 9 10 15 — 46

OWENSBORO CATHOLIC15 6 9 24 — 54

Daviess County (46) — Phelps 10, Brown 9, Hillard 6, Ayer 5, Renfrow 5, Floyd 4, McCain 4, Oberst.

Owensboro Catholic (54) — Griffith 18, Hobgood 11, Sims 7, Beickman 6, T. Carrico 4, Gray 4, V. Carrico 2, Johnson 2.

GIRLS

OWENSBORO CATHOLIC 55, DAVIESS COUNTY 30

Hailee Johnson led all scorers with 16 points, including 12 points in the second half, to lift the Lady Aces to a district victory at the Sportscenter.

Catholic (8-0, 2-0 in 9th District) led just 6-4 at the end of the first eight minutes and pulled ahead for a 22-14 lead at intermission, but Johnson scored seven points in a 10-2 run that gave the Lady Aces a 32-16 lead midway through the third quarter.

"We just weren't hitting shots in the first half," OCHS coach Michael Robertson said. "We were turning them over, we just weren't converting them. We were able to convert in the second half. Hailee shot the ball really well, and that helped us extend that lead."

Catholic, which forced 22 turnovers and gave up the ball only five times, carried a 39-23 advantage into the final stanza, then scored eight of the first 10 points of the fourth quarter to pull away for good.

"They were very physical with us," Robertson said of the Lady Panthers. "I think they got worn out, so they weren't as physical in the second half.

"Every time we would cut, they'd bump and we'd just quit. I said, 'You've got to go through that and you've got to play.' We started getting a little motion, we got some screens, they were switching everything, we got some mismatches that we liked and we were able to take advantage of that."

Lauren Keelin and Karmin Riley added eight points apiece for Catholic, which returns to action Monday against Corbin in the Queen of the Commonwealth in Mount Washington.

Zoey Beehn scored 12 points and Adylan Ayer chipped in eight points for DC (2-5, 0-2), which plays again Wednesday against Castle (Ind.) in the Independence Bank Kentucky-Indiana Classic at the Sportscenter.

After the game, Robertson was honored for becoming the Catholic program's all-time winningest coach with his 242nd victory Tuesday against Whitesville Trinity.

DAVIESS COUNTY4 10 9 7 — 30

OWENSBORO CATHOLIC6 16 17 16 — 55

Daviess County (30) — Beehn 12, Ayer 8, Moran 6, Ma. Hancock 2, Henry 2.

Owensboro Catholic (55) — Johnson 16, La. Keelin 8, Riley 8, Le. Keelin 7, Randolph 6, Hayden 5, Riney 3, Grant 2.