Thoroughbreds, Bluebirds handle 36th Semifinal opponents

G. Michael Graham Photos. Top: Highlands post Parker Harris (10) battles Newport's Kameron Covington for the opening tip in the Bluebirds' 75-64 win on Wednesday. Bottom: Newport Central Catholic's Drew McDonald scores near the rim in the Thoroughbreds' 71-24 victory over Bellevue. The teams will play for the 36th District championship on Friday at 7 p.m.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

NEWPORT – Toward the end of the second game of the tournament doubleheader, the respective student sections began the, “We got sprit” chants among others at each other.

That simply meant the Highlands Bluebirds and Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbred boys basketball teams emerged victorious in the 36th District Semifinals on Wednesday on The Hill. Top-seeded NewCath (27-3) won its 20th in a row with a sound 71-24 victory over the Bellevue Tigers and the third-seeded Highlands Bluebirds (9-13) downed the second-seeded Newport Wildcats (15-11) by a 75-64 count.

The Highlands OZone and Newport Central Catholic Pep Club will be back at it Friday as the teams battle for the championship at 7 p.m. Their girls teams battle for the crown at 7 p.m. on Thursday on the Hill.

The Thoroughbreds are seeking their sixth straight district championship. The last time they didn’t win it came in 2008 when the Bluebirds won their last crown.

The second game saw Highlands accomplish a goal that first-year Head Coach Kevin Listerman set when he took the job in the offseason. That’s get back to the regional tournament after a one-year absence. Highlands avenged a 65-53 loss at Newport on Jan. 14 by grabbing the lead in the first quarter and never letting go.

“All the credit goes to the kids,” Listerman said. “They stayed with it. The regular season is a growing process. Every one of our kids bought into it. That showed (Wednesday). We’ve grown up a lot. This was probably the closest we’ve played to a complete game all year.”

The Bluebirds finished that quarter with a 5-0 run as part of a monstrous night from junior post Parker Harris. He hit a jumper from the right side and buried a three-pointer from the right wing to put the Bluebirds up 17-12 after the first quarter. Harris finished with a double-double of 22 points and 15 rebounds to go with two blocked shots.

The Bluebirds put four starters in double-figures. Point guard Brendan Buten followed with 19 points with Drew Houliston and Mitch Cain scoring 12 and 10 respectively.

Highlands had just four turnovers to nine for Newport, won the rebounding battle, 32-28 and made things count at the free-throw line. The Bluebirds made 26-of-30 including 17-of-19 in the fourth quarter for 87 percent. Harris led the way making 11-of-13 with Houliston making all six attempts.

“We just try to simplify things with our kids,” Listerman said. “We told them to relax. You have to play with a clear mind. We found and attacked the openings. That’s the reason why we didn’t turn it over.”

The Bluebirds made 21-of-50 shots for 42 percent including seven three-pointers. The Wildcats made 21-of-48 shots for 44 percent and 11-of-16 free throws for 69 percent.

Highlands controlled the paint not letting Kameron Covington score. But the Newport guards kept them within striking distance. Ethan Snapp scorched the net for eight three-pointers on his way to 28 points with Paul Price and Michael Turner scoring 16 and 14 respectively.

“I thought our bigs played really well down low,” Cain said. “They contained Covington. Snapp had a great game. We struggled with him at times.”

Both teams also distributed the ball well. Highlands had 17 assists to 11 for Newport. Houliston led the Bluebirds with five assists and Turner had nine to lead the Wildcats.

Highlands continued its run in the second quarter with seven more points. The Bluebirds led 24-12 before Snapp made a triple. Snapp made four threes in that quarter. Highlands led 38-29 at halftime after Turner made a buzzer-beating three-pointer.

The Wildcats trimmed the margin to six once in the third quarter. But Buten answered with a three-pointer. The Bluebirds led 51-43 entering the fourth quarter.

Newport cut the margin to six at 57-51 with 5:23 left in the game. But Buten came through again with a three-pointer and three-point play to extend the margin to 65-51 with 2:59 left in the game. The Wildcats came no closer than nine after that point.

“We were struggling to score at that point,” Buten said. “That three got the crowd back into it and got our players back going again. We started scoring. Our JV squad pushed us all week. They got us ready for (Newport’s) pressure.”

The first game saw 14 different Thoroughbreds score as NewCath built a 40-12 halftime lead. That let NewCath rest its starters in the second half. Jake Schulte led the Thoroughbreds with 12 points.

“I just wanted to make sure we came out, played hard and played good defense,” said Ron Dawn, NewCath Head Coach. “I felt we did a really good job with that. I tell (the reserves) they’re all part of the team. They sometimes don’t get in during big games, but they contribute in practice.”

The second half saw reserves Mac Franzen, John Ludwig, Eric Anderson, Brian Anderson, Tyler Rawe, Jacob Smith and Josh Verkamp score. Ludwig made two three-pointers and Eric Anderson had a three-point play.

Rawe said the reserves are still having fun despite not playing as much as players may like. But they took advantage of the opportunity Wednesday.

“For the most part, we try to have fun by cheering for our teammates out there,” Rawe said. “We have a great time on the bench actually. We act like we’re in the game.”

The Thoroughbreds continued to shoot free throws well. They made 14-of-18 attempts for 78 percent compared to 2-of-6 for 33 percent for the Tigers.