Bowling Green 46 Owsley County 44 (KHSAA Girls' Sweet 16®)

[16thBBall Fan]

Final from Rupp.

[The Double Deuce]

Great season for @The Professor's Lady Owls!!

Good luck to BG in the Elite Eight.

[The Professor]

I haven’t posted yet on the game but I want to say that people around the state don’t really grasp the meaning and importance to the Owsley County community for this opportunity to play in the Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena. No Owsley County team sport such as basketball, baseball/softball, volleyball, etc, had ever been to the state tournament. 
The boys and girls basketball had come close in the past, boys losing in the region championship game in 1983 and 1985, and the girls losing in the finals in 1988 and in overtime on a last second shot in 2022. Baseball was region runner up in 1980.
 

But this 2024 Lady Owls team finally did it. Although they came up 2 points short of winning the opening round vs Bowling Green they battled to the end. Owsley Countians far and wide will always celebrate this team. 
 

To see the words “Owsley” on that big scoreboard jumbo screen over center court still gives me goosebumps thinking about it. Our fans were so excited and when I looked in their sections from the press row table (I was helping broadcast an audio stream for Bluegrass Sports Nation) I could see the jubilation on their faces. The maroon clad fans were sitting in three different sections and there were quite a few of them and they were loud and cheering like crazy.

Owsley County at 4,000 is 119th population rank of the state’s 120 counties. Owsley County’s school district has 650 students grades K-12. The high school has 187 enrollment. It is a huge challenge to overcome those numbers to make it to Rupp and is one of the reasons they have never been until this year. And this celebration will continue into next season with a raising of the 14th Regional Championship banner in “The Palace”, the nickname for Owsley’s 1200 capacity gymnasium. 

Coach Travis Smith is to be commended, along with his staff of coaches—Kyle Bobrowski, Brent Lynch and Donnie Edwards—for a great and successful 26-10 season. The team won their 5th consecutive 56th district championship and 19th in school history. And Coach Smith’s daughter, Carly, was named Player of the Year in the 14th Region. These coaches and girls have taken our community on a magical ride this season!