Looking to ramp up with the 9th District Tournament just a few days away, Owensboro utilized a balanced attack that saw five players finish in double figures to come away with an impressive 75-59 over Trinity (Whitesville).
“I thought we played well,” Owensboro Head Coach Rod Drake said. “We left one on the table the other night, and tonight we came ready to play and finished. We know Trinity is a good basketball team, so we just had to come out, be ready, and make some shots. I think our pressure bothered them.”
The first quarter was back and forth early, with Owensboro Zeke Beehn (8 points) and Kade Arnold (7 points) exchanging baskets with the Raiders Harrison Barnett (5 points) and Ian Roby (4 points). Leading 21-15 entering the second quarter, the Red Devils took a 40-27 lead into halftime thanks to DaMarcus Ganaway Jr. taking over the game.
After only scoring two points in the opening eight minutes, the junior guard splashed a three and scored seven of his team-high 18 points in the second quarter. Drake attributed his team’s first-half success to their pressure and scoring in transition.
After only scoring five points through the first two quarters, the Raiders’ Mason Smith attempted to will his team back into the game, hitting three threes in the third quarter and scoring 16 of his 21 points in the second half. Trailing 59-42 entering the fourth quarter, the Raiders overwhelmed the Red Devils and cut the lead to 10 – forcing Owensboro to call a timeout.
“We had to pick it back up,” Drake said. “We lost our intensity there for about 10 minutes.”
Out of the timeout, Jamil Waddy scored eight of his 12 points to help the Red Devils close it out.
Barnett and Smith both led all scorers with 21 points, while Ian Roby was third on the Raiders in scoring with 11 points. For Owensboro, Ganaway (18), Arnold (15), Beehn (13), Waddy (12), and Shemwell (10) all finished as double-digit scorers.
With their regular season now over, the Raiders are off until Tuesday when they take on Edmonson County in the 12th District Tournament. The Red Devils end their regular season on Friday against Henderson County, before taking on Daviess County in the 9th District Tournament.
