The first round of the boys All “A” tournament got underway on Thursday in Owensboro with three Northern Kentucky teams qualifying.
Walton-Verona is representing the 8th Region, Beechwood the 9th Region and Bishop Brossart the 10th Region. The Bearcats were the lone team to advance with a 64-45 victory over Ballard Memorial while Beechwood lost to Owensboro Catholic, 62-53 and Bishop Brossart dropped their contest with Pineville, 75-44.
Walton-Verona 64, Ballard Memorial 45
The Bearcats second quarter helped them pull away from the Bombers in Thursday’s last game of the day that ended around midnight.
Walton-Verona (12-6) outscored Ballard Memorial (10-7) 20-10 in the second to take a 32-20 lead into the break and pulled away in the third with a 49-31 lead into the fourth.
Aiden Kerns and Aaron Gutman scored 21 points apiece, Kerns adding five rebounds to go with three assists, two blocks and a steal.
The Bearcats shot it well, going 55% from the field and 41% from three.
The victory gets them into Friday’s quarterfinals where they’ll face Danville Christian at 9:30 p.m. CST at the Owensboro Sportscenter.
Owensboro Catholic 62, Beechwood 53
The Tigers failed to get key rebounds when it mattered.
Owensboro Catholic (11-5) won the battle of the boards 32-20 and gathered 11 offensive rebounds to the Tigers four. The Aces scored 28 points in the paint to the Tigers 20 and 10-4 on second choice points.
After a sluggish start and falling in a 10-4 end of first quarter hole, Beechwood (11-6) started to get going by using an 8-0 run to take a two-point lead in the third before trailing 38-36 going into the fourth. The “home team” Owensboro Catholic, who plays their home games at the Owensboro Sportscenter and the site of the majority of the tournament, outscored Beechwood 24-17 in the fourth.
Jack Sullivan led Beechwood with 16 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Carson Blackburn and Owen McCormack chipped in 13 points apiece. McCormack added five rebounds and four steals.
The Tigers were 20-of-43 from the field, but 9-of-27 from the 3-point line.
Owensboro Catholic had three in double figures, led by Luke Beickman’s 22 points. Waryn Ebelhar added 18, Solly Smith with 11.
Pineville 75, Bishop Brossart 44
The Mountain Lions out of the 13th Region jumped out to a 13-0 lead and never looked back. The Mustangs first points came with 3:52 left in the first.
Pineville (14-5) shot 54% from the field and led by as much as 34. Brossart (10-8) committed 17 turnovers and shot 21% from the field.
Drew Steffen led the Mustangs with 10 points, Carson Hesse adding nine. Pineville had four in double figures, led by Sawyer Thompson’s 19-point effort.