Owensboro Catholic sneaks out win, Sacred Heart dominates in Girls' Sweet 16 openers

The first two games of the 2023 Mingua Beef Jerky Girls’ Sweet 16 have officially wrapped up as two teams have locked in spots for Friday’s quarterfinals. Owensboro Catholic was able to sneak out a tight win down the stretch against Bowling Green to get the tournament rolling while Sacred Heart, ranked No. 12 in the nation by ESPNw, had little trouble dismantling Lawrence County in game two action.

KSR has you covered on how it all went down.

*This article was submitted by freelance writer Alyx White, who has extensive knowledge in covering KY high school girls’ basketball. She is also one of two hosts for KSR’s women’s basketball podcast, the Know Her Name Podcast, which covers Kentucky women’s hoops. Alyx will assist in KSR’s coverage of the KHSAA Girls’ Sweet 16 Tournament this week. You can follow her on Twitter: @alyxwhite_*

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Hot Outside Shooting Propels Owensboro Catholic

Owensboro Catholic and Bowling Green kicked off the 2023 Mingua Beef Jerky Girls’ Sweet 16 on Wednesday morning in a game that went down to the wire. In fact, there were three ties and 10 lead changes throughout the game. In the end, Owensboro Catholic’s outside shooting was just too much for the Purples to overcome. 

The Lady Aces shot 52.9% from deep and knocked down nine triples to seal the victory. Bowling Green’s Katy Smily had six 3-pointers of her own, finishing the game with 20 points, but she was the only Purples player that was able to connect from deep. 

Two of Bowling Green’s seniors also finished their careers in double figures. Northern Kentucky commit Meadow Tisdale had 11 points and eight rebounds while Eastern Kentucky commit Saniyah Shelton went for 10 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds. 

For the Lady Aces, Karmin Riley got things going to start off the game and she never slowed down from that point on, scoring a team-high 16 points. Hailee Johnson added 13 points for Owensboro Catholic. Those two along with seniors Katie Riney and Lauren Keelin were all able to hit multiple outside shots to come out victorious. 

In the end, Owensboro Catholic walked off the Rupp Arena floor with a tight 54-51 victory and advanced to Friday’s second-round action.

𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 | Owensboro Catholic 54 Bowling Green 51

What a game by the Lady Aces pic.twitter.com/vbTcSJUvNB

— Alyx White (@alyxwhite_) March 8, 2023

History Made by Sacred Heart

Lawrence County put up an excellent fight for the first 14 minutes of the game, but the nationally-ranked Valkyries were ultimately too much for the Bulldogs to handle. While Lawrence County and Kensley Feltner have made history this season, Sacred Heart set some records of their own in the opening-round game. 

Feltner has been incredible throughout her entire high school career. The 2023 Miss Kentucky Basketball candidate and Belmont University commit became only the fourth girls player in KHSAA history to eclipse the 4,000-point mark. She led her team with 14 points and seven rebounds on Wednesday.

As a team, Lawrence County won its first-ever regional title to reach the Sweet 16. History was made. 

Special moment as Kensley Feltner finishes out her high school career as one of the most decorated HS players this state has seen… only the 4th female player to score 4,000+ points pic.twitter.com/cyzfb9a2fg

— Alyx White (@alyxwhite_) March 8, 2023

For Sacred Heart, it was all about sharing the wealth. Senior Triniti Ralston registered the most assists in a single game in program history after dishing out 13 assists in the victory, while the Valkyries also broke the KHSAA state tournament single-game assist record with 28 total assists on 30 made field goals. 

As far as scoring was concerned, Sacred Heart had three players finish in double figures. Reagan Bender led the way with 24 points. ZaKiyah Johnson, who was named Kentucky’s Gatorade Player of the Year earlier the same morning for the second straight season, added 21 points. Angelina Pelayo led the Valkyries on the boards with six rebounds to go along with her 14 points. 

Owensboro Catholic and Sacred Heart will face off in the Sweet 16 quarterfinals on Friday, March 10th at 11 AM.