OWLS DEFEAT ESTILL IN DISTRICT GAME

Owsley County's offense was on point Tuesday in their big district matchup with Estill County in Booneville. The Owls used hot shooting and good defense to hold a 30-20 halftime lead and hold on to defeat the Engineers 64-50, their first victory over Estill since the 2013 season when Paul Green was head coach.

 

The Owls' Jordan McCoy was on target from behind the arc as he finished 4/6 from that distance and topped the team in scoring with 20 points. Keegan Herald was huge as well, as he scored inside and outside to finish with 17 points and added 8 assists and 8 rebounds. Guard Jarred Napier had some three-pointers of his own as he knocked down three and had 13 points and 8 assists. Chase Pryse, who was awarded a memorabilia basketball before the game recognizing his going over the 500 rebound threshold, ended the game with 12 points and 10 rebounds to add to his already numerous double-doubles during the season. Daniel Caudell scored 2 points and had 8 rebounds.

 

Estill had a cold shooting night, and the Owls' defenses probably contributed to some of that. But the Engineers missed several shots at the rim and just seemed out of rhythm in the contest. They were led in scoring by sophomore Hunter Bingham with 20 points. Chance East-Rawlings scored 10 points, Luke Niece 8, Cooper Willis 4, Gavin Shepherd 3, Brody Mainous 3, and Rowlan Fox scored 2.

 

The win gave the Owls 3 wins in the district with one district game remaining with Powell. They will be the second seed in the 56th district tournament that begins the week of Monday, Feb. 23.

Coach Tyson Gross was pleased with his team's good play. "We are trending in a positive direction at the right time of the season," said Gross. "I thought the team played unselfish and shared the ball well tonight, and that's what I want to see," added Gross.