Caldwell County’s girls went to halftime with an eight-point lead, but Owensboro put together a strong second half to rally past the Lady Tigers in the Western Kentucky Showcase on Saturday at Crittenden County’s Rocket Arena.
Alyrica Hughes finished with a game-high 22 points and Unique Swanagan scored 16 of her 18 points in the second half as the Lady Devils defeated Caldwell 67-54.
It looked like the Lady Tigers’ day earlier on, though, with Caldwell jumping out to an 18-7 lead and holding an 18-12 margin after 8 minutes.
Caldwell (2-9) went up by 11 points again in the second quarter at 26-15, and got to halftime with a 31-23 edge when Katy Smiley scored from in close just ahead of the buzzer.
But Owensboro (9-8) used a 24-12 advantage in the third quarter to take a 47-43 lead to the final frame.
Caldwell was as close as 53-50 when Brylee Butts made one of two free throws with still 4:26 to play.
But the Lady Devils recorded the next four baskets to go up double figures at 61-50.
Owensboro’s biggest lead came with the final 13-point margin.
Parris Gray had 21 points and seven rebounds to lead Caldwell. Katy Smiley had 11 points and nine boards while Butts also tallied 11 points.
Caldwell’s girls will open play in the 2nd Region All A Classic Monday night with a quarterfinal round game at Dawson Springs.
Owensboro 12 11 24 20—67
Caldwell County 18 13 12 11—54
Owensboro (9-8) — Alyrica Hughes 22, Unique Swanagan 18, Chandler Worth 10, Emma Wilkins 9, Emani Badger 4, LuLu Greer 4.
Caldwell County (2-9) — Parris Gray 21, Brylee Butts 11, Katy Smiley 11, A.J. Hollowell 5, Presley McKinney 4, Morgan Aikins 2.
