Lady Owls Play in Weekend Berea Tournament

The Owsley County Lady Owls basketball team played in the three day Berea High Giovanni Holiday Classic this past weekend and came away with one win and two losses. It was a big tournament as far as the number of schools involved. Besides Owsley County and the host Berea Lady Pirates some of the other schools in the Classic were Montgomery County, Bluegrass United, Russell County, Covington Holy Cross, Bishop Brossart, Lexington Catholic, Louisville Valley, Madison Southern, Hazard, Henry County, Trimble County, Louisville Male, and Pleasure Ridge Park. 

The Lady Owls first game was played Friday vs Bluegrass United. Owsley broke away from a close contest to hold a 23-16 advantage at the half. However, the opponent came out of their locker room in the third quarter with intensity and regained the lead at 33-31 to end the third quarter. Owsley regrouped in the last period to take back the lead and hold on for a 43-39 win. 

Macey Brown was high scorer for Owsley with 16 points and also had 12 rebounds for a double-double. Kenzie Grubb tallied 12 points. Kamilla Marcum had 8 points 6 rebounds and 4 assists, Harley Dooley 4 and Delaney Smith 3 and 4 assists. 

Macey Brown was named Player of the Game.

The Lady Owls played their second game Saturday against top 20 state ranked Bishop Brossart from Campbell County. The Lady Mustangs simply had too much firepower for the Lady Owls. They held a 19-2 lead after one quarter and 41-7 at the half. Final score was 66-23. 

Brossart played a suffocating defense, particularly their press, and Owsley had trouble moving the ball or getting any open looks. They also controlled the boards big and scored 34 points off Owsley turnovers. The Lady Owls were able to attempt only 18 shots for the entire game. 

Owsley’s youth and inexperienced proved too much for them to overcome against a veteran and deep team like Brossart. 

Delaney Smith was top scorer for Owsley with 10 points. Kenzie Grubb scored 8 points, Kamilla Marcum 3 and Macey Brown 2. 

Kylie Smith led the Lady Mustangs with 14 points and Rachel Shewmaker had 10. Brossart had ten players score in the game. 

Owsley played their third game in as many days in the Classic when they took on Madison Southern on Sunday. The Lady Owls had played them during summer play and lost a 1 point decision in overtime. However, the Lady Eagles have had injuries with girls out of the lineup for a while but now have them back in time for the Jan/Feb stretch in preparation  for post-season tournament play. 

Madison Southern led 13-7 after the first period but went on a 20-3 run in the second quarter that put Owsley in a 33-10 halftime deficit. The last half saw the Lady Owls and Lady Eagles tie the third quarter at 11-11 and Owsley score 8 points to Madison Southern’s 10 in the last quarter but the second quarter 17 point blitz was a huge difference maker. The Lady Eagles went on to a 54-29 victory. 

One advantage that helped Madison Southern was nine 3 point makes to Owsley’s 2. Their defense scored 21 points from Owsley turnovers while limiting their own turnovers to two for the entire game. Owsley did win the battle of the boards 38-36. 

Owsley’s Macey Brown scored 13 points and again had a double-double with 11 rebounds, per the Hudl Statisical Report. Delaney Smith scored 8 points, Kenzie Grubb 5 and Harley Dooley 3. Kamilla Marcum was in double figures in rebounds with 10 and led the team in assists with 3. 

Briana Hensley led a balanced Madison Southern attack with 10 points. The Lady Eagles had 9 players in the scoring column.

Coach Travis Smith took the approach to this weekend’s games as an opportunity to play some great state competition and use it as a learning experience for his youthful team. 

“We feel this type of competition is good for us going forward. It’s not about wins and losses as much as getting ready for the main goal of preparing for the post-season tournaments,”commented Smith. 

“We are a work in progress and I see improvements each day but we have a lot of work in front of us.”

The Lady Owls next game is at Wolfe County Jan. 2.