Owensboro KY— Owensboro Catholic has been one of the most consistent Girls Varsity Basketball teams in western Kentucky for a considerably long time & Lady Aces Head Coach Michael Robertson has been a MAJOR contributor to that sustained consistency. Robertson, an Owensboro Catholic Graduate himself, has been involved in the Lady Aces program for 20 years. He started his coaching career as an assistant under then head coach Tom Campbell for 1 season. Campbell left after Robertson’s first season on staff and in came Ray Zuberer to become the Lady Aces next head coach. With the new regime in control, there were new assistants hired and that left Robertson without a spot on the staff. Robertson however, having a love for the game of basketball & a love for Owensboro Catholic athletics, was determined to get Coach Zuberers’ attention, which took a while, according to Robertson, stating “I begged him for a spot on the staff and he avoided my calls for the longest time before finally giving me a job keeping book.” Zuberer stressed to Robertson, “I have no money for you, but if you want to help, you’re welcome to come to the gym if you’d like.” This was an opportunity for Robertson to prove himself, and learn from someone he respected and thought very highly of. In year one, working with Zuberer, the Lady Aces had an extremely disappointing season, losing 20 plus games before ever touching the win column. The following season, Zuberer and staff continued to put forth the effort to be a winning program. “Coach Zuberer gave me more responsibility after that first season, and it was later determined that Zuberer had a plan for me to replace him when the time came.” Said Robertson. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the time to in fact replace him would come a lot sooner than Coach Zuberer or Robertson would’ve liked. Robertson was perfectly content learning & growing as a coach under Zuberer’. Once it became clear that Robertson would be the new head coach, he lacked no shortage of confidence in his ability to take what he’d learned and apply it to himself and the program under his leadership. “I felt like I could have success right off the bat.” Instant success is exactly what happened. Robertson inherited a team that at the time, featured star Rebecca Greenwell. Robertson, the interim coach in that season, led the Lady Aces to a 25-8 overall record. Won the ALL A state championship, 3rd Region championship and picked up the schools first ever victory in the KHSAA Girls Sweet 16 State Tournament with a 66-55 win over Lincoln County. The success of that season would only be the beginning for Coach Robertson and the Lady Aces Program. In the spring of 2013, the administration and athletic department decided to remove the interim tag and name him HEAD COACH. Fast forward 10 years later and Coach Robertson has went 261-98 overall. The Lady Aces have won nine 9th district championships, 8 ALL A 3rd Region Championships, 6 3rd Region Championships, two ALL A State Championships (2013 & 2019), two ALL A State Runner Ups (2016 & 2022), 1 KHSAA Final Four & 4 Elite 8 appearances. This season, saw the Aces claim one of those 6 Regional crowns, a trip to the Elite 8 & an overall record of 26-10. To many schools, that kinda resume in a season would be a complete success. Robertson however says the season was anything but easy. “This season was full of ups & downs and as a coach, it was a very trying season.” Digging more in depth about the season, the coach says “this was a great group to coach and had a lot of talent. Our biggest problem was that we didn’t have that one girl who was going to get into her teammates & get the best of out of them. I guess you could say we had a room full of ladies who were too nice.” things, however began to change after the Lady Aces dropped a home game to district rival Owensboro Senior. It was the first time Catholic High had lost to Owensboro since 2009. It was at that point, Robertson & staff decided it was necessary to hold a “team meeting” right before playing 4th Region POWERHOUSE Bowling Green High School. In that meeting, The staff didn’t hold back. “I told them they say all the right stuff but I don’t see those words coming into action.” It felt like we were talking the talk, but not walking the walk. Robertson challenged his squad that day to make some changes. To get back to having fun & enjoying the game of basketball even telling them “if it’s not fun to you anymore, give it up.” Robertson was adamant saying “if you have fun, the wins will come. You can’t just want to win, you have to have fun doing your job in order to see positive results.” Putting on the Catholic jersey means a lot to the community. To the players. There’s a certain standard that has been reached under the Robertson campaign and that can bring pressure to teenagers. For much of the season, the staff believes the Lady Aces played with a lot of unwanted pressure and that made it tough on everyone involved in the program. Coach was very blunt to the team in that meeting, telling the girls “if you don’t change things, we are not going to get to where we expect to, and want to be.” The Head Ball Coach believes that meeting changed the course of the season for his squad and began playing the best basketball of the season at just the right time. In all the success the Lady Aces have accomplished under coach Robertson, he believes the biggest attribute to that, has been, first and foremost the obvious talent to come through the program. Players such as Becca Greenwell (DUKE) Hannah McKay (MURRAY STATE) MacKenzie Keelin (BELLARMINE), Annabel Moore (BELLARMINE), Mikayla Berry (BELLARMINE), Ellie Mitchell (SIU) and SO MANY OTHERS have put the Catholic uniform on. Robertson also notes the parents who have taken the girls, and kept them together playing in tournaments throughout the offseason as a reason for consistency as well. Lastly Robertson says “We’ve been fortunate to have always had girls who were unselfish and want the best for their teammates.” “They haven’t cared about points or who gets their name in the newspaper the most, they just want to win and have done whatever it takes to do that.” Earlier in the article, we mentioned the pressure & expectations that come with the Lady Aces’ program. When asked how Robertson has maintained such a level of success and consistency, he notes “I feel like each group that comes through don’t want to be known as the group that doesn’t have success.” “I think each group wants to outperform the group that came before them and it has made for some fun teams to coach.” This season, the Lady Aces weren’t considered the favorites to win the Regional title. Meade County came into the season as the defending champs and featured one of the top players in the state in sophomore Peyton Bradley. The Lady Wave were considered by everyone, the runaway favorites going into the tournament after running through the 3rd Region in the regular season, defeating everyone by at least 11 points (Including Catholic). Not being considered the favorite may have added stress to the Lady Aces and the Coach believes “it almost became a burden for this group” because of all the noise. But Robertson credits his club for “weathering the storm, and refusing to let it completely bury them” and ultimately accomplishing what everyone said they couldn’t do.., BEAT MEADE COUNTY & WIN ANOTHER REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. The folks of Owensboro Catholic have themselves a gem on Parish Avenue and nobody should expect this train to be slowing down anytime soon. As long as Coach Robertson is at the helm, Owensboro Catholic will be right in the thick of things when it comes tournament time. What a ride it’s been for the Lady Aces and Coach Michael Robertson.