Lady Eagles beat Muhlenberg, advance in district tourney

The Ohio County High Lady Eagles put together a good showing Monday night to beat Muhlenberg County 58-42 in first-round/semi-final play in the 2021 Girls’ 10th District Basketball Tournament. This year’s district is being hosted by OCHS.

Tomorrow night a 6 p.m., Matt Brigance’s Lady Eagles will be facing top-seeded McLean County for the district championship. Both teams advance to next week’s regional tournament at the Owensboro Sportscenter, but winning a district title is advantageous for opening round seedings in the tournament.

Ohio County led from the outset in Monday’s game, scoring the first five points and going on to lead 14-3 after one quarter. Senior guard Kelsey Kennedy had seven of OCHS’ points in that frame. The host team then pushed out to a 23-6 edge, before a 4-0 MCHS surge cut it to 23-10. Heaven Vanover’s basket and a three-point hoop from Lady Mustang Chloe Lynn made the halftime score 25-13.

Muhlenberg County got within 11 points early in the third quarter at 27-16 before another Vanover lay-in and a three-pointer from OCHS junior guard Shelby Probus bumped the margin to 32-16. The Lady Mustangs got no closer, trailing 44-22 at period’s end. The Lady Mustangs continued to battle, however, getting to within 14 with less than two minutes to play at 56-42. Late free throws by Probus and junior guard Ella Gaddis accounted for the final score.

Kennedy topped all scorers with 21 points while grabbing nine rebounds. Probus, who has emerged as a solid reserve the past two weeks, was next with 13 while junior forward Heaven Vanover added 12. Jaycee Noffsinger paced the Lady Mustangs in their season finale with 12 while Sarah-Cate Boggess totaled 11. Mike Harper’s team finished as Third Region runner-up a year ago.

Muhlenberg Co. (2-13) 3 10 9 20—11 15/21 15

Ohio Co. (11-8) 14 11 19 14—21 10/19 20

Ohio County (58)—Kennedy 21, Probus 13, Vanover 12, Embry 8, Bullock 3, Gaddis 3 (3-pt. FGs, Probus 4, Bullock, Kennedy).

Muhlenberg County (42)—Noffsinger 12, Boggess 11, Lynn 9, Stewart 6, Browning 4, Proffitt 1 (3-pt. FGs, Lynn 3, Boggess, Noffsinger).

**Game statistics: Rebounds—OC 35 (Kennedy 9, Rain Embry 8, Probus 5), MC 32; Blocks—OC 3 (Embry, Gaddis, Kennedy); Assists—OC 16 (Kennedy 4, Gaddis 3, Madison Smith 3), MC 5; Steals—OC 121 (Embry 3, Probus 3, Vanover 3), MC 8 (Noffsinger 3); FG%--OC=43.8% (21/48), MC=27.5% (11/40); TOs—MC 16, OC 14).