Red Devils on a roll headed to state

Joseph Russell, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.
·3 min read

Mar. 11—As the Owensboro High School boys basketball team prepares for its trip to the KHSAA Sweet 16 state tournament next week, the Red Devils are staring down an opportunity that didn't seem so likely earlier in the season.

OHS (19-10) had struggled with injuries and player absences all season, and after dropping an 80-78 overtime decision to Owensboro Catholic on Jan. 13 — in which Owensboro surrendered a 19-point second-half lead — the Red Devils sat at only 10-6.

Coach Rod Drake and his squad never withered, though.

Owensboro bounced back for a 94-92 victory over Evansville Bosse the following week, and although the Devils fell 64-63 at Madisonville-North Hopkins a few days later, the seasonal debut of senior forward Ji Webb helped the OHS coaching staff see their squad's end-of-year potential.

Still, Drake said, OHS didn't quite start coming together until about three weeks later in the regular-season finale, a 65-57 home loss to Ohio County — the team's third consecutive defeat that left the Devils at 14-10 entering postseason play.

Since then, however, the Red Devils have been unstoppable — rolling through the 9th District and 3rd Region tournaments while outscoring opponents by nearly 19 points per contest. Along the way, they collected victories over Daviess County, Ohio County, Butler County and Owensboro Catholic, with a pair of wins over the Aces.

It all culminated with the program's state-record 45th regional title and another trip to Rupp Arena for Drake & Co.

"Right now, our kids are really high," said Drake, who won a state championship with Owensboro as a player in 1980 and later as a coach in 2015. "The confidence level's really high. Everybody's gelling with each other. It's almost like a cliche — it came at the right time. It came at the right time."

Throughout the Red Devils' tumultuous availability this season, senior guard Kenyata Carbon has been a stalwart. He's played in all but one game this year, leading the Devils with 22.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game while connecting on 55% of his shots from the field.

For his efforts, Carbon has climbed to the second spot on Owensboro's all-time career scoring list. He entered the regional title game trailing the legendary Kenny Higgs by 106 points, then produced a game-high 31 points for OHS.

"Kenyata's the real deal," Drake said. "He is the player of the year. ... He's here, so what can you say?

"(He's the) No. 2 all-time leading scorer in a prized program like Owensboro High School."

Webb's presence also helped shape Owensboro's defense, with the 6-foot-5 shot blocker serving as a deterrent in the paint if opponents got past the Red Devils' perimeter defenses.

"Ji was what we needed," Drake remarked. "He gave those guys confidence, where they could really be tough out front and be aggressive and wouldn't get beat. ... Once they realized they could go hard out front, that's what we wanted."

Now, OHS heads into the state tournament on a roll — and Carbon considers it a chance that he's wanted his whole career.

"It feels great," he said. "I didn't want to be the only one in the 1,000-point club not to go to Rupp. I had to make some changes."

Owensboro, making its first KHSAA Sweet 16 appearance since 2018-19, will face 16th Region champion Ashland Blazer on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. CT. The two programs met in the 2019 state tournament, with Ashland claiming a 58-50 victory.