Lady Devils roll to victory

Alyrica Hughes scored a game-high 15 points, and the Owensboro High School girls basketball team used balanced contributions and stifling defense to take a 42-22 win over McLean County in the Independence Bank Kentucky-Indiana Classic on Tuesday at the Sportscenter.

Neither team was at full strength, OHS coach Jansen Locher said, but he was happy to see the way his team responded.

“We just wanted to come out and try to get a win going into Christmas,” he said. “It always makes Christmas a little bit better ending on a win, but we just wanted to play hard. Yesterday, we got outplayed as far as hustle, and that was the first time I felt like that happened this year, so we didn’t want that to happen again today. I felt like the girls came in and played hard, played through mistakes a little bit better, and we kept extending the lead.

“That’s one thing we worked on doing — keep extending the lead and not letting the other team back. I think we did a good job of not letting them back in the game, because they do have shooters and girls that can make plays and do that, so it was good to keep them at ease.”

The Lady Devils built a 12-9 advantage after the first quarter, then outscored the Lady Cougars 10-5 in the second frame for an eight-point halftime lead.

OHS pushed ahead for a 31-14 advantage after a pair of Hughes foul shots with 3:06 left in the third, but the Lady Cougars scored the final six points of the frame to trim the deficit to 11 points.

From there, however, OHS scored 11 of the game’s final 13 points to secure the win.

“It starts defensively, getting some stops and having some girls move and things like that,” Locher said. “Defensively, we buckled down, and then we were able to get some players to just make some baskets for us. (Lindsey) Gibson shot the ball well today, (Emma) Wilkins came in and gave us a couple big buckets that helped.

“Once they get their confidence up and everything’s clicking for us, we know we can be tough.”

For the game, the Lady Devils (6-5) made 17-of-43 shots from the field for 39.5%, 4-of-17 attempts from beyond the arc for 23.5% and 4-of-7 foul shots for 57.1%. Gibson finished with eight points, while Wilkins, LuLu Greer and Chandler Worth each added five points. Lizy Phillips chipped in four points.

“We need to be able to go eight to nine deep when it gets time for district games and the district tournament,” Locher said, “so today was a great step forward in getting there.”

Breanna Frailley scored eight points to pace McLean County (2-7), which connected on 9-of-44 floor shots for 20.5%, 1-of-11 3-pointers for 9% and 3-of-7 free throws for 42.9%.

“Right now, we’re not playing with a lot of confidence,” Lady Cougars coach Ryan Groves said. “We’re without a few players — a couple starters and a couple reserves — but that’s no excuse. You’ve got to have the next player step up. We’ve got several that are playing really hard, and sometimes they get frustrated. You’ve got to work through it and get some confidence and turn things around.

“When we’re playing our game and running our offenses the way we’re supposed to, we’re pretty good. We’ve just got to get that consistency and gain that confidence, and we’ll be alright. We’ve just got to get there.”

McLEAN COUNTY 9 5 6 2 — 22

OWENSBORO 12 10 9 11 — 42

McLean County (22) — Frailley 8, Rice 5, Burrough 4, Blades 3, Lannum 2.

Owensboro (42) — Hughes 15, Gibson 8, Greer 5, E. Wilkins 5, Worth 5, Phillips 4.

DAVIESS COUNTY 47, BUTLER COUNTY 39

Katie Mewes scored 10 points to lead DC to a victory in the Independence Bank Kentucky-Indiana Classic at the Sportscenter.

With the win, the Lady Panthers improved to 6-4.

Jaelyn Taylor scored 10 points to pace Butler County (6-1).

BUTLER COUNTY 12 8 6 13 — 39

DAVIESS COUNTY 11 8 8 20 — 47

Butler County (39) — Taylor 10, Cardwell 9, Clark 9, Leach 8, Phelps 2, Leach 1.

Daviess County (47) — Mewes 10, Beehn 9, Hoagland 9, Ayer 8, Spurrier 4, Roberts 3, Paige 2, Payne 2.

UNION COUNTY 51, MUHLENBERG COUNTY 39

Sarah-Cate Boggess and Macy Fields each scored 10 points as the Lady Mustangs fell at the Independence Bank Kentucky-Indiana Classic at the Sportscenter.

Muhlenberg County slipped to 2-5.

Amelia Mackey and Madison Morris each scored 16 points for Union County (5-4).

UNION COUNTY 10 18 10 12 — 51

MUHLENBERG COUNTY 7 5 15 12 — 39

Union County (51) — Mackey 16, Morris 16, R. Hagan 7, M. Hagan 5, Theus 4, Gough 2.

Muhlenberg County (39) — Boggess 10, Fields 10, Stewart 8, Wilkins 6, Proffitt 3, Duvall 2.

FOREST PARK (IND.) 60, McLEAN COUNTY 21

Alyssa Burrough scored five points in the Lady Cougars’ loss in the Independence Bank Kentucky-Indiana Classic at the Sportscenter.

Amber Tretter scored 18 points for Forest Park (11-2), Ali Welp finished with 16 points, and Carley Begle added 10.

FOREST PARK 11 20 14 15 — 60

McLEAN COUNTY 2 5 8 6 — 21

Forest Park (60) — Tretter 18, Welp 16, Begle 10, Betz 7, Gehlhausen 5, Eckert 2, Gray 2.

McLean County (21) — Burrough 5, Frailley 4, Rice 4, Level 3, Miller 3, Lannum 2.

MONDAY BARREN COUNTY 41, McLEAN COUNTY 22

Raven Ennis scored 12 points, and Abigail Varney added 10 points as Barren County won in the Independence Bank Kentucky-Indiana Classic at the Sportscenter.

Kashlynn Rice scored five points to pace the Lady Cougars

BARREN COUNTY 15 8 12 6 — 41

McLEAN COUNTY 4 6 2 10 — 22

Barren County (41) — Ennis 12, Varney 10, Lockhart 7, Elmore 4, Smith 4, Geralds 2, Murphy 2.

McLean County (22) — Rice 5, Burrough 4, Miller 3, Blades 2, Frailley 2, Larkin 2, Lannum 2, Ring 2.

BOYS OWENSBORO 78, FOREST PARK (IND.) 55

Amari Wales led the Red Devils with 24 points in their victory at the Independence Bank Kentucky-Indiana Classic at the Sportscenter.

Kenyata Carbon finished with 22 points for Owensboro (8-2).

Drew Howard had 21 points for Forest Park, and Reid Howard finished with 17.

FOREST PARK 6 10 19 23 — 55

OWENSBORO 23 21 20 14 — 78

Forest Park (55) — D. Howard 21, R. Howard 17, Nalley 9, Bowman 6, Berg 3, Uebelhor 2.

Owensboro (78) — Wales 24, Carbon 22, Rogers 8, Hume 6, Powell 6, Hughes 4, Taylor 4, Howard 2, Johnson 2.