By CHARLIE HUST
Webster County girls’ basketball squad looks to be peaking at tournament time after upsetting Owensboro Catholic last Thursday and then pounding Owensboro Saturday afternoon in Dixon.
WCHS (16-10) ends regular-season play Friday night at University Heights Academy before taking on Union County in the opening round of the Sixth District Tournament next Monday, hosted by Webster County High School. Gametime is 7 p.m. with the winner taking on Henderson County in the District championship game set for Feb. 27.
Webster County 86 (OT)
Owensboro Catholic 80
In possibly their finest performance of the season, the WCHS Lady Trojans snapped a three-game losing streak with an impressive overtime road victory over Region 3 powerhouse Owensboro Catholic Thursday night at the Sportscenter.
It was the first time this season Catholic had been defeated on their home court as their record fell to 23-4.
Sparked by 28 points from Darrian McNary and a career-high 24 points from sophomore guard Kaylee Duncan, the Lady Trojans rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit to post their 15th win of the season.
Duncan had a trio of 3-pointers in the contest and scored of WC’s 21 points in the third quarter. That period was the key to Webster’s victory, holding the high-scoring Lady Aces to just six points during the 21-6 surge. Darrian McNary added five points in the frame while Bailey Townsend had a pair of field goals to lift Webster to a 56-53 lead after three quarters of play.
A 9-4 run to open the fourth quarter, ignited by a pair of 3-pointers for Michelle Berry, gave Catholic a 19-16 scoring edge to send the game into overtime.
The Lady Trojans quickly grabbed the momentum in the extra period on buckets from Christian Papineau and Kristen Keeney along with 9-of-12 accuracy from the free throw line to ice the victory. McNary was 5-of-6 at the stripe in the extra five minutes while Papineau was 3-for-4.
Catholic gained a 16-12 lead at the first break and used a 31-23 scoring edge in the high-scoring second quarter to earn the 47-35 lead at intermission. OC took advantage of 12 fouls whistled against WCHS in the half, hitting 13-of-16 free throws. The Lady Aces were near perfect at the charity stripe in the contest, connecting on 27-of-36 attempts.
McNary hit a season-high 17-of-19 free throws in the game and scored 13 point alone in the second quarter in the upset win.
Papineau finished with nine points, five of those coming in overtime, while Townsend added eight points. Kristen Keeney finished with six points, Maddie Duncan five, Hallie Gibson four and Hannah Pritchett three points.
Webster County 69
Owensboro 34
It was all maroon-and-gold from the opening tip as the Lady Trojans blitzed the visiting OHS squad Saturday night in Dixon.
Webster’s full-court defensive pressure created 14 turnovers in the first half that led to easy layups and a commanding 19-9 lead at the end of the first period. That lead ballooned to 38-17 and the rout was on.
The Lady Trojans’ high-octane offense that’s finally found its stride in the past two weeks, poured in another 19 points in the third quarter to stretch the advantage to 57-28. From that point on, the WCHS bench took over to secure the victory.
WC senior Darrian McNary led all scorers with 23 points, 18 of those coming in the first half. Kaylee Duncan also was in double figures with 11 points. Kristen Keeney and Hannah Pritchett finished with eight points apiece while Christian Papineau added six points in the victory.
Maddie Duncan and Hallie Gibson scored four points each, followed by two points apiece from Kelsey Payne and Gabbie Major and one point from Tia Campbell.