After having to battle the UHA Blazers tooth and nail for two and a half quarters, the Owensboro Red Devils were able to find some breathing room late in the third quarter. That turned out to be the difference as Owensboro was able to claim a 71-61 win over University Heights in the 5th-place game of the First United Bank Holiday Classic at Madisonville-North Hopkins.
The first half of the game was about as close as two teams could play it. The Blazers and Red Devils went back and forth for the entire 16 minutes of the opening half with neither team able to gain any breathing room from the other.
Just how close was it ? There were nine ties and there were twelve lead changes between the two teams over the first two quarters.
Both teams were playing tight, pressure defense, and both were looking to attack the basket on the offensive end. The biggest difference in the opening half was that the Blazers had four players score at least four points, while Owensboro was pretty much a one-man show in the form of Kenyatta Carbon. The senior guard scored 19 points for the Red Devils in the first half as UHA had trouble finding a way to get him contained.
The Red Devils led 17-13 after one, with that lead being cut to two at 33-31 at the half.
The second half began much like the first half played out. Over the first four minutes of the third quarter there were three more ties and four more lead changes. But then Owensboro made just enough of a move to gain control of the contest.
With the score knotted up at 42-42, the Red Devils went on a mini-run of 5-0 to go up 47-42. Owensboro got big plays from their inside tandem of Ethan Pendleton and Abdul Mitchell to get to the lead for good. The third quarter ended with the Red Devils up 51-45.
The momentum from the end of the third quarter carried over into the beginning of the fourth quarter for Owensboro. Additionally, the Blazers had a couple of minutes where rushed shots and ball handling were issues. With Ethan Pendleton and Talas Taylor driving the offense, the Red Devils were able to expand the lead to 60-49 early in the fourth .
Gavin Grubbs ignited a quick run for University Heights that trimmed the lead to 60-55 but that would be as close as the Blazers could get in the final minutes as Carbon and Taylor helped to seal the win for Owensboro.
Lemar Northington and Gavin Grubbs each had 14 points to lead the Blazers. Quinton Quarles also hit double figures with 12.
Owensboro was paced by Kenyatta Carbon, who led all scorers in the game with 27. Talas Taylor finished with 16, 13 of them coming in the second half. Abdul Mitchell and Ethan Pendleton added 11 points each.
UHA falls to 4-4 with the loss. The Blazers return to action after Christmas in the Henderson Chevrolet, Buick, GMC Classic.
UHA – 13 18 14 16 — 61
OHS – 17 16 18 20 — 71
University Heights – Northington 14, Grubbs 14, Quarles 12, Walton 8. C. Brown 7, J. Brown 4, Baker 2
Owensboro – Carbon 27, Taylor 16, Mitchell 11, Pendleton 11, Powell 6
