Final-I may not be exactly right about North's final score. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

score is correct. It was a fun game to watch. Congrats to the Rebels. Awsome game by freshman Zack Ripey. Owen is a fun team to watch. Everyone talks about the bigs,but Owen can run the fast break as well.

Score is correct.

 

Owen came out inspired from the opening tip against a team that had beaten them three times in four meetings. North, coming off an emotional district win over Oldham on the road the night before, looked very flat in the first half - with predictable results.

 

Ripey (14 pts) and Osborne (10 pts) played superbly at guard for Owen tonight. I was very impressed with Osborne. Sawyer Williams came off the bench and was very active on the glass while scoring 14 points... The youth of the Rebels actually won this game, IMO.

 

The intriguing battle between Shelton and Rowan never really developed, as Shelton fouled out with 5 points and Rowan finished with just 2 on 1 of 3 shooting. (Owen's interior defense was very impressive, keeping the ball out of Rowan's hands in scoring position as the talented sophomore finished well below his 16 ppg average).

 

North senior guard Alex Foley scored his average, netting 21 points, including three threes. North freshman David Levitch came alive in the second half, scoring 9 of his 11 points. North junior Max Steinfeld doubled his average, hitting 5 of 7 shots and 1/3 FTs for 11 points.

 

North scored the first two points, but never led again. Owen repeatedly beat the Mustangs down the court in the first half while building a 40-27 halftime lead. The lead ballooned to 17 early in the third, when North coach Danny Edelen pulled 6'7" center Devon Rowan and went with a short, quick lineup that turned up the defensive heat and began scoring in transition. It was as if a switch had been thrown on the North bench. The Mustangs quickly pulled to within 48-41 after three, and pulled to within two scores early in the final period.

 

But the smaller Mustangs (with the exception of the 6'7", 245 pound sophomore center Devon Rowan, who collected 7 rebounds) could not match the Rebels on the glass, which was one of two big advantages for the Rebels. Our unofficial stats had Owen County dominating the glass +10. The other advantage - an 8 point advantage - came from an unexpected source: Free throws.

 

Owen County, a poor FT shooting team (55% on the season), hit 18 of 27 (66.7%) and made as many as North attempted. North, on the other hand, - a very good FT shooting team at nearly 70%, with three players hitting over 80% from the line - hit just 10 of 18 for 55.6%.

 

North - 10 17 14 13 - 54

Owen - 18 22 8 18 - 66

 

North - Foley 21, Levitch 11, Steinfeld 11, Lagrange 5, Shams 3, Rowan 2, Menke 1

 

Owen - Ripey 14, Colligan 14, Williams 14, Osborne 10, Kelly 9, Shelton 5

 

shooting %:

North 20/56 35.7%

Owen 22/45 48.4%

 

threes:

North: 4/18 22.2% Foley 3, Levitch 1

Owen: 2/7 28.5% Osborne 1, Ripey 1

 

FT%

North: 10/18 55.6%

Owen: 18/27 66.7%

 

Congrats to the Rebels on an impressive victory and good luck to the Mustangs next week vs. a challenging schedule (Anderson County on Tuesday and Shelby on Friday).