NCC girls continue struggles at NDA; boys roll past Beechwood

G. Michael Graham Photo. Newport Central Catholic point guard Michaela Ware (11) looks for a teammate against Notre Dame's Carlee Clemons in Saturday's game. Notre Dame won 57-30.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

PARK HILLS – The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds girls basketball team currently finds itself in Search Mode.

The Thoroughbreds continued to struggle putting the ball in the hoop in a 57-30 loss to the Notre Dame Pandas here Saturday. NewCath made just 10-of-48 shots for 21 percent, including 1-of-8 for 13 percent from three-point range. The Thoroughbreds also made just 9-of-20 free throws for 45 percent.

“Defensively, we haven’t been too bad,” said George Stoll, NewCath head coach. “We weren’t very good defensively in the second half. We missed a ton of lay-ups (Saturday). That gets to your head. We have a couple players that are in a slump right now. We just have to get out of it.”

NewCath (18-9) has lost five in a row since beating Bishop Brossart, 63-37 on Jan. 26 in the All “A” Semifinals in Frankfort. The Thoroughbreds fell to 9-4 in 9th Region action.

“We constantly on our girls talking about what our goals are,” said Nicole Levandusky, Notre Dame head coach and former Xavier University standout. “We nitpick about a lot of different things. We’re shooting for perfection. But let’s be realistic, it doesn’t exist. When you make a mistake, what do you do next? That’s the important thing. We just have to keep playing and play through some things.”

On the other hand, Notre Dame (19-5) has won eight in a row and improved to 9-0 in region play. The Pandas entered the season as favorites to win the region.

Notre Dame scored 1.01 points per possession compared to .51 for NewCath. The Pandas came into the season as favorites to win the 9th Region. They hit 22-of-50 shots for 44 percent and used a 23-4 run to pull away in the second half. Their largest lead was 47-18 with 4:21 left in the game following a Carlee Clemons offensive putback.

The Pandas also shot a lot better from three-point range and from the free-throw line. Notre Dame made 6-of-12 from beyond the arc for 50 percent and 7-of-13 free throws for 54 percent.

Olivia Voskuhl led the Pandas with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds. The Cleveland State signee had plenty of help as Elly Ogle, a Louisiana State volleyball commit, and Kindsey Bernhard scored eight each. Bernhard made two three-pointers.

Voskuhl also rejected two NewCath shots as the Throughbreds tried to pump-fake and drive to the rim because they were not hitting outside shots. Notre Dame used its size to collapse on NewCath junior standout Nikki Kiernan.

“Obviously, you want to contest every shot they take and not leave people open,” Levandusky said. “We tell our girls to try to get a hand in their face and make them shoot over you.”

Kiernan still managed another double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. But no one else scored more than five points for the Thoroughbreds.

NewCath did hold the lead a couple times in the first quarter. Alexus Mayes hit the only triple for the Thoroughbreds to put them up 5-2 with 4:50 left.

Notre Dame took the lead for good at 6-5 with 28 seconds left when Paige Kellman scored. The Pandas led 21-13 at halftime.

The Thoroughbreds play host to Ryle (9-15) on Wednesday. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

NCC boys 62, Beechwood 44:

The Thoroughbreds (26-2) rolled to their 14th straight win on the hill Saturday afternoon.

They improved to 14-1 in 9th Region action against the Tigers (7-18) behind 18 points from Michael Bueter and 13 from Jake Schulte. The Thoroughbreds made 30-of-32 free-throw attempts for 94 percent. Schulte made all nine attempts.

NewCath takes on Ryle (10-13) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.