Athletics

Boys Basketball

By Mark Story Reprinted with permission from the March 27, 2020, Lexington Herald-Leader

3rd Region

Editor’s Note: The 2020 Boys’ Sweet 16 was postponed before it began because of the coronavirus pandemic. The stoppage of our annual high school basketball state tournament denied 16 schools and their communities - for many - a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for recognition on one of Kentucky’s most prominent stages. In the absence of basketball, the Herald-Leader is telling their stories.

Of the 16 teams that won regional championships in the 2019- 20 Kentucky boys’ high school basketball season, it seems ing exceptionally well coming into the postseason,” says Jim

possible to identify the one riding the highest wave of euphoria.

The stunning upset that made Owensboro Catholic the 2020 3rd Region champion is one giddy Aces fans will relish for all eternity. What happened was that Owensboro Catholic, defying history,

Going into Owensboro Catholic’s 3rd Region championship game matchup with crosstown rival Owensboro, the trends working against Coach Tim Riley’s Aces were severe. The result, Owensboro Catholic 56, Owensboro 45, is the

One of the most tradition-packed programs in Kentucky high school basketball history, Owensboro entered the game with people against the Red Devils,” says Riley, the Catholic coach.

44 previous region titles.

Owensboro Catholic entered the game with one all-time region were exorcised that night.”

crown - 2016.

Owensboro has four state titles and 47 all-time wins in the Had the coronavirus pandemic and the efforts to contain it not

Sweet 16.

Not only has Owensboro Catholic never won the boys’ state tournament, the Aces have never won a state tourney game.

In three prior meetings between the teams in 2019-20, Owens 22 points and 16 (in the 9th District championship).

“Owensboro was a heavy favorite. And Owensboro was play Pickens, longtime sportswriter at the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer. “What happened, no one saw it coming.”

tradition and this season’s prior results, took an early lead and never relented.

biggest boys’ basketball victory in school history for the Aces.

“There had been a lot of bad nights for the Owensboro Catholic

“For all the old-line Owensboro Catholic people, a lot of demons

An Uphill Climb

boro had swept them all, winning the two previous games by intervened, Riley, 59, would have coached in his 10th state tournament March 19 when Owensboro Catholic (21-14) was

Story continues on page 21

Champions

By Coach Michael Robertson, Class of ’99 Girls Head Basketball Coach

This was a season with lots of ups and downs, and lots of figuring things out. We had just come off an All "A" State Championship and Best School Finish at the State Tournament, making it to the Final 4 of the KHSAA Sweet 16. We lost a lot of talent from the previous year, almost 75% of our scoring and rebounding, but we did have a lot of playing experience coming back. We had to spend most of the season learning new roles on the team and tinkering with the line-up. We finally got it rolling at the end of the season. We won the District Championship over Apollo (probably the best team in the Region at the time) in a second half comeback, overcoming a ten-point deficit at the half.

We challenged the girls in the locker room at halftime and they responded well. From that point on, we had a group that was going to fight for one another and make sure we succeeded in our goal, which was to get back to Rupp and finish the business we started the previous year.

Little did we know that Regional Championship Game against Muhlenberg County, the 100th win for this senior group, would be our last together.

We had traveled to Lexington on Wednesday for our State Tournament game that was to be played on Thursday evening. We had practice on Thursday morning and then walked to Rupp Arena afterwards to watch the game in which we would play the winner of, if we happened to make it to the second round.

During halftime of this game, we received word that the tourna ment had been postponed due to COVID-19.

I have been coaching for a few years now and it was extremely

Girls Basketball

Accolades for Girls’ Basketball Seniors

100-40 Record

66-6 against Regional Opponents (3rd Region Opponents)

33-3 against District Opponents (Apollo, Daviess County, and Owensboro)

2019 Class "A" State Champions

2019 KHSAA Sweet 16 Semi-finalist (Best School Finish)

2020 All "A" Classic Semi-finalist

3rd Region Champions ’18, ’19, ’20 (Three in a row – First time in school history)

3rd Region All "A" Champions ’17, ’19, ’20

9th District Champions ’18, ’19, ’20

difficult telling the girls that their dreams of playing and competing for a State Championship at Rupp Arena this year was gone. To say many tears were shed wouldn’t be a lie. Not being able to go out on your terms was a tough pill to swallow. This will always be a special group that I will never forget. There were a lot of challenges with this group, but I always knew that when it was time to shine and get to work, they were going to show up and get it done!

Despite how the season ended, I am still very proud to have been a part of this ride with these incredible players! ♠