NC Boys hammer Boone County; DH beats Highlands

G. Michael Graham Photo. Newport Central Catholic guard Zach Pangallo sets up the offense in Tuesday's game at Boone County. Pangallo scored 17 points to help the Thoroughbreds to the 73-33 9th Region win on Fookes Court.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

FLORENCE – A ton of hype between two undefeated teams accompanied this early boys basketball battle.

It evaporated quickly in a matter of minutes.

The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds scored the game’s first 15 points and did not look back in a 73-33 victory Tuesday on Fookes Court. NewCath (3-0) did what it wanted to the host Boone County Rebels (5-1) in the half-court game with its size and the full-court with its speed and depth.

“We came out ready to play,” said Ron Dawn, NewCath Head Coach. “We’ve been doing that so far. Sometimes, I think teams have a tendency to worry about what the other team does. But we came out and played our game.”

All three NewCath wins have come against 9th Region competition. The Rebels fell to 3-1 in region play.

The Thoroughbreds saw six players score at least eight points. Junior guard Zach Pangallo led the way with 17 points on two three-pointers. Teammates Tanner Moeves and Drew McDonald followed with 10 points each.

“If we had the open look (in transition), we were going to push it up the floor and get our points,” Pangallo said. “It worked really well. We knew when the brought in their bigs, we could push the ball and get them tired.”

NewCath posts Ben Weyer and Jake Schulte also did their fair share of damage in the paint. Weyer scored nine and Schulte had eight to go along with several blocks. Josh Verkamp also scored nine for NewCath. They also rejected a number of shots defensively.

“I usually get a lot of my blocks on help side (defense),” Weyer said. “They’re calling all the touch fouls this year so it is a lot different. You have to keep your hands straight up.”

The Rebels run their offense through point guard Brenden Stanley. He finished with a team-high nine points.

The Thoroughbreds led 42-15 at halftime and 56-18 after three quarters. The running clock started in the third quarter allowing both teams to put in their reserves in the fourth quarter.

NewCath does have a few areas of improvement. One is free-throw shooting. The Thoroughbreds made just 14-of-25 attempts for 56 percent.

But the Rebels did not shoot them any better. They made just 6-of-10 for 60 percent.

NewCath plays in two tough holiday tournaments to end the year. That starts Thursday against Memphis (Tenn.) Mitchell (3-5) at 4:30 p.m. to start the King of the Bluegrass Tournament at Louisville Fairdale.

Dixie Heights 62, Highlands 44:

The Bluebirds fell to 0-3 overall and 0-2 in region play following a home loss Tuesday.

The Colonels (2-2) have won two straight since opening the season with two losses. They are 1-1 in region play.

Highlands saw just one player reach double-digits. That was junior Parker Harris with 11 points.

The Bluebirds could not contain Colonel standout forward Brandon Hatton. The University of Vermont commit scored 16 points.

Highlands plays host to Bishop Brossart (5-1) on Friday. Game time is 7:30 p.m.