Thoroughbreds edge Lady Indians, 54-52

Allen Ramsey Photo. Newport Central Catholic's Nikki Kiernan (24) puts up a shot in Saturday's 9th Region Semifinal contest against Covington Holy Cross. Kiernan had a double-double of 24 points and 13 rebounds in the 54-52 Thoroughbred win.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS – The third meeting would either be another charm or go the other way depending on the side.

Ware's lay-up lifts NewCath

G. Michael Graham Photo. Newport Central Catholic junior Loren Zimmerman (right) guards Holy Cross' Aleah Tucker in Friday's All "A" 9th Region semifinal contest. The Thoroughbreds won 39-37 in the final seconds to advance to the title game.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

ERLANGER – Some may call it the Newport Central Catholic Invitational.

It is understandable because the Thoroughbreds have won the previous seven All “A” 9th Region girls basketball crowns. But one region opponent has not been intimidated by that in recent years in the Covington Holy Cross Lady Indians (11-4).

Holy Cross gave NewCath its closest game in last year’s tournament losing just 51-43 in the first round. It took the Thoroughbreds (16-2) the final seconds of this year’s semifinal contest Friday to beat the Lady Indians, 39-37 at St. Henry.

NCC Girls Hoops Preview: Thoroughbreds aim for another great season

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

Returning everyone from a year ago often amounts to great things.

But that is only the case if those returning players sharpen their games in the offseason. Second-year Newport Central Thoroughbreds Girls Basketball Head Coach George Stoll and staff hope that proves true this season.

NewCath girls thrash Brossart, 63-37 in All "A" Semifinals

G. Michael Graham Photo. The Newport Central Catholic girls basketball players, coaches and trainer watch with joy as the Thoroughbreds pulled away from Bishop Brossart in the second half of Saturday's 63-37 win in the All "A" Semifinals. NewCath faces Owensboro Catholic for the state championship Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

FRANKFORT – Opposing girls basketball teams have tried it all year long.

They pack the middle against junior standout Nikki Kiernan and force the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds to beat them from outside. It did not work early in the season because NewCath hit shots from outside.

But it began to work some once the Thoroughbreds stopped hitting from there consistently. NewCath still found other ways to win for the most part.

However, the Thoroughbreds knew they’d eventually hit from the outside again. They may have just found their shooting touch in Saturday’s win over the rival Bishop Brossart Lady Mustangs, 63-37 in the All “A” State Semifinals at the Frankfort Convention Center. NewCath also beat Bishop Brossart, 65-55 on Dec. 17.

NewCath faces 2011 champion Owensboro Catholic (15-5) of the 3rd Region at 12:30 p.m. Sunday for the title. The Lady Aces beat Gallatin County, 73-60 in the other semifinal.

NewCath (19-4) made 8-of-30 three-pointers – four in each half – for 27 percent as Bishop Brossart (18-5) came out in mixture of zones to pack things in against Kiernan and Alexus Mayes. Ansley Davenport led the way in that department making 3-of-7 shots from outside with Michaela Ware, Stephanie Lewis, Kiernan, Chelsea Schack and Sarah Neace making one each.

“What can be tough is when (opponents) are not playing far off from you, you shoot, miss and it gets to your head,” said George Stoll, NewCath head coach. “That’s what we talked about before during one of the timeouts. We told them to think about how many three-pointers they’ve shot from the wing in their lives. We had to step in there, shoot it with confidence and they’re going to go in.”

Mayes scored 15 of her team-high 17 points in the second half as NewCath pulled away. Lewis added 14 and Davenport had nine as the Thoroughbreds saw nine different players score.

“Once we got the three-pointers going, we felt more confident to take more shots,” Davenport said. “I always try to find different spots and try to get my feet set.”

The Lady Mustangs held Kiernan to eight points – all in the second half – after she torched them for a triple-double of 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 blocks in the December meeting. Kiernan still dominated the glass with 19 rebounds and rejected six shots.

“It was very frustrating because it makes it harder for us to score,” Kiernan said. “Luckily, they laid off our teammates and we had enough teammates come in and make up for them doubling and tripling (myself and Mayes).”

That marked Kiernan’s lone triple-double of the season. She has 12 double-doubles.

NewCath outrebounded Bishop Brossart, 47-37. That included 13-8 on the offensive glass. The Thoroughbreds outscored the Lady Mustangs, 18-0 in second-chance points. Mayes and Lewis nabbed eight rebounds each. Lewis had most of those points off five offensive rebounds.

“They were worried about (Mayes and Kiernan) so I just took advantage of it,” Lewis said. “I went and got the ball then tried to put it back up hoping it would go in.”

The Thoroughbreds hit 21-of-57 shots for 37 percent and made 13-of-21 free throws for 62 percent. They also committed just seven fouls.

On the other side, the Lady Mustangs made 15-of-55 shots for 27 percent including 4-of-14 from three-point land and 3-of-9 free throws for 33 percent. Bishop Brossart committed 17 fouls.

“Offense is the fun part, but defense is what wins games,” Mayes said. “We worry more about defense. If we do well on defense, our offense comes to us naturally.”

Both teams took good care of the basketball. NewCath had six turnovers and three steals to eight turnovers and four steals for Bishop Brossart. The Lady Mustangs did try to speed the game up with full-court pressure later in the game.

The Thoroughbreds dished out 11 assists to seven for the Lady Mustangs. Ware had five for NewCath.

“They do a great job with the man-to-man press,” Stoll said. “I told them before the game the key is to make sure they take care of the basketball. It’s not just one person. It’s everyone. We did a great job of that in the second half.”

Brossart led early in the contest, 7-2. But Davenport hit her first three-pointer to cut the margin to 7-5 and the NewCath confidence grew from there. Lewis hit her lone triple with 1:01 left in the quarter to give the Thoroughbreds a 10-7 advantage.

NewCath doubled Bishop Brossart in the second quarter to go up 24-14 at halftime. Lewis scored six in that quarter including an offensive putback with 44 seconds left.

“When you have the talent inside with Mayes and Kiernan, you have to pick your poison of what you’re going to do,” said Josh Feldmann, Bishop Brossart head coach. “We tried to take those two away. Our main thing is we couldn’t put the ball in the hole. If we’d have made some shot early, we could have stayed with what we were doing and put some pressure on them.”

The Thoroughbreds kept expanding the lead in the second half. They led 43-25 entering the fourth quarter.

NewCath is making its third appearance in the All “A” title game in five seasons. The Thoroughbreds won it in 2010 and fell in overtime to Walton-Verona in the title game last year.

NewCath girls advance to All "A" Semifinals

G. Michael Graham Photo. Newport Central Catholic junior standout Nikki Kiernan (24) prepares to shoot a free throw in Friday's 55-35 win over Webster County in the All "A" State Quarterfinals. Kiernan had another double-double of 31 points, 15 rebounds, six blocked shots, a steal and assist in the victory.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

FRANKFORT – On paper, the Webster County Lady Trojans basketball team figured to challenge Newport Central Catholic’s run of four consecutive trips to the All “A” State Semifinals.

But the Thoroughbreds jumped on the Lady Trojans from the beginning and made sure that did not happen. NewCath pounded the ball inside to standout Nikki Kiernan and she scored the game’s first seven points as the Thoroughbreds cruised to a 55-35 victory Friday.

Kiernan once again controlled the paint with another double-double of 31 points and 15 rebounds against Webster County’s man-to-man defense. She added five blocked shots, an assist and steal in the win. Kiernan made 10-of-15 shots from the field and 11-of-16 free-throw attempts.

“We run four out and one in the middle and it gives her some space to work,” said George Stoll, NewCath head coach. “That’s where our offense starts. It’s not very often that we have a distinct height advantage against a good team, but (Friday) we did. We thought they’d play a little more zone, but they didn’t end up playing it too much. We kept on getting the ball (inside).”

The Thoroughbreds (17-4) have won seven straight since dropping a 63-41 decision to Louisville Sacred Heart at home on Jan. 5. They handed the Lady Trojans their worst loss of the season. Second Region champion Webster County had lost just twice this season to the same opponent in Henderson County by a combined seven points.

“I’ve been saying for several weeks now that we’re about the worst 17-2 team in the state,” said Parker McCalister, Webster County head coach. “We just have not played the level of competition we need to play to get better. Nothing against the teams in our region, but the level of competition in the 2nd Region is not even close to what it is in Lexington, Louisville and Northern Kentucky. But I knew that coming in.”

Kiernan did not receive a lot of double and triple-teams down low like she’s seen throughout the season. She often caught the ball in the paint made and move and scored.

“It was exciting because there wasn’t a lot of pressure so I could pretty much do whatever I want,” Kiernan said. “That surprised me a lot.”

Kiernan scored 20 points in the first half as NewCath built a 28-13 advantage. She made 10-of-13 shots for 77 percent and grabbed nine rebounds in that half.

“We faced (Owesboro Catholic standout and Duke Signee) Rebecca Greenwell in the preseason,” McCalister said. “I told the team (Kiernan) will be as good of a high school basketball player as Greenwell is. She’s pretty amazing. She’ll be a tremendous college player.”

Overall, NewCath made 17-of-38 shots for 45 percent, including 12-of-25 in the first half for 48 percent and 2-of-7 overall from three-point range. NewCath shot better from the free-throw line making 19-of-29 shots for 66 percent.

Stephanie Lewis followed Kiernan with seven points and Alexus Mayes had six. Lewis and MiKayla Seibert hit one three-pointer each for NewCath.

“We were second-guessing our shots. We were going for the second ones instead of taking the first ones,” Mayes said. “We need to pay better attention to defenses. If they come out with their hands down, we need to shoot it. If they have their hands up, we need to drive past them and we’ll have our shots right there.”

Mayes, Lewis and Michaela Ware had two assists each for the Thoroughbreds. Webster County tried full-court pressure in the first half but backed off when NewCath burned the pressure for easy scores.

The Thoroughbreds again played solid defense holding the Lady Trojans to 19 percent (11-of-59) from the field and 0-for-6 from three-point range. That included 3-of-25 from the field for 12 percent in the first half.

NewCath held Webster County junior standout guard Mariah Herrera to a team-high 11 points. Herrera likes to score in transition. No one else had more than five points for the Lady Trojans.

“We did an outstanding job against (Herrera),” Stoll said. “I don’t think she had any lay-ups against us in transition. We also did a great job with our half-court defense. We made them set up in the half-court (offense).”

The Thoroughbreds also won the rebounding battle, 42-31. After Kiernan, Mayes had six rebounds and Lewis had five.

NewCath led 19-6 after the first quarter. The Lady Trojans did not make their first field goal until 3:31 remained in the first quarter when Herrera made a lay-up.

“I was most disappointed at the heart and effort of our kids in the first half,” McCalister said. “It’s okay to lose, but it’s not okay to just quit. They didn’t try very hard so that’s pretty disappointing.”

Webster County cut the margin to 10 once in the third quarter with 3:28 left at 31-21, but came no closer. NewCath’s largest lead was 51-28 with 3:07 left in the game.

The Thoroughbreds face arch-rival and 10th Region champion Bishop Brossart (18-4) at 10 a.m. Saturday. NewCath beat the Lady Mustangs, 65-55 on Dec. 17. Brossart edged Frankfort, 41-40 in the first game Friday.

“Everyone knows Brossart is a big rival for us,” Stoll said. “We’re right next to each other. Most of the girls face each other growing up in grade school. We know each other very well. It’s going to come down to whoever wants it more that day. We just have to be ready to play.”

NewCath beat Brossart, 63-41 in the semifinals last year before dropping a 38-36 overtime decision to Walton-Verona in the title game. NewCath won the tournament in 2010.