‘Win or go home.’ Bowling Green’s veterans rally from 15 down to end Owsley’s dream season.
Bowling Green trailed by as many as 15 early in its 46-44 victory over Owsley County in Wednesday’s first game of the 2024 Mingua Beef Jerky Girls’ Sweet 16 in Rupp Arena.
Purples coach Calvin Head saw no reason to panic.
“That’s kind of been how we’ve played all year,” said Head, whose Bowling Green squad was making its fifth consecutive Sweet 16 appearance. “A little muddy, up and down roller coaster, but I thought our kids fought.
“Big shout out to Owsley County and the job that they’ve done this year. We knew their guards were going to be tough to handle, they shoot the ball extremely well, and they made us pay when we didn’t do what we were supposed to do defensively. So, all in all, very proud of our girls in those last 16 minutes of being resilient, showcasing a lot of toughness.”
After being outscored 16-4 in the first quarter, the Purples (24-10) didn’t count themselves out. And when the Owls (26-10) set their largest lead of the afternoon at 22-7 with 4:25 to play in the first half, Bowling Green strung together nine straight points to cut the lead to just six by the middle of the third quarter.
The Purples got back in it with defense. They held Owsley, making its first-ever Sweet 16 appearance, scoreless for the final 4:25 of the first half on through the opening 2:47 of the second half. By then, Bowling Green trailed only 22-16.
When Addison Terry’s 3-pointer finally stopped the Owls’ scoring drought, Bowling Green’s Chloe Potter answered with a downtown jumper of her own.
“As a senior, obviously, when your team’s losing you feel a lot of pressure,” Potter said. “You don’t want to go home first round. I mean, it’s either win or go home, so making big plays is what we had to do to get the momentum back for our team.”
The Purples continued to chip away at Owsley County’s lead from there, closing to within 29-26 on a 3-pointer by Natajia Alexander with 24 seconds left in the third.
The Purples, who outscored the Owls 33-22 in the second half, finally retook the lead (for the first time since their 4-0 start) at the 7:01 mark of the fourth quarter. Bowling Green would never trail again, building its lead to as large as six points before a late Owsley County run closed the gap.
The Owls made history with their 14th Region championship, becoming the first-ever Owsley County basketball team (girls or boys) to make the state tournament. They are also the first girls basketball team from the 56th District to ever reach Rupp Arena.
“Thought they played as hard as they could play for the full 32 minutes,” Owsley County head coach Travis Smith said. “Offensively and defensively, I thought we executed the game plan that we had going in. It comes down to the last shot and we were out there and had a chance at the end. So hats off to Bowling Green, they’ve been here a lot and they played a good game, but just extremely proud of our kids.”
Potter credited the Purples’ team chemistry and winning culture with their ability to return to Rupp again and again with different casts of players.
“Over the past few years, we’ve all gotten along,” he said. “We just have that ... we all click and we all get each other, we can all flow with each other. It’s just a really fun environment to be around.”
Potter scored 12 points and pulled in three rebounds. Junior forward Katy Smiley recorded 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three blocks and one steal. Alexander, a senior guard, finished with 12 points, five rebounds and two steals.
Owsley County senior guard Carly Smith finished with 14 points, one rebound, six assists and two steals. Terry, a sophomore guard, also scored 14 points, dished two assists, and grabbed five rebounds and one steal. Aaliyah Lynch, a junior guard, ended up with 11 points.
The Purples will face 1st Region champion McCracken County (30-5) in Friday’s quarterfinals at 11 a.m. McCracken County advanced Wednesday with a 50-33 victory over Russell.
This story was originally published March 13, 2024 at 3:51 PM.
