Thoroughbreds claim sixth straight district crown

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

NEWPORT – Both boys basketball teams showed why they could be tough to deal with in the 9th Region Tournament.

The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds used their size and depth to dominate teams all season and that didn’t change Friday. They won their sixth consecutive 36th District championship, 65-36 over the rival Highlands Bluebirds on The Hill.

Thoroughbreds repeat as All "A" State Champions

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

FRANKFORT – They did it last year and hoped to laugh in the face of the challenge again.

That was not a problem. For the second straight year, the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds boys basketball team (21-3) won five games in six days to win the All “A” State championship. They took down the Cordia Lions (17-6), 72-61 on Sunday at the Frankfort Convention Center. NewCath has won 13 in a row.

NCC Boys Hoops Preview: Thoroughbreds once again favored to win 9th Region

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

They have been labeled 9th Region favorites once again.

That’s because the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds have the size and depth to give teams problems in addition to adding some key players. A familiar face in Head Coach Ron Dawn returns to the sidelines this year after Grant Brannen took the same position at Walton-Verona last spring.

Dawn takes over a team that returns three starters from last year’s 30-3 squad that won its fifth straight 36th District Tournament crown. The Thoroughbreds won the All “A” State Tournament and rode an 18-game winning streak into the 9th Region Tournament at the Bank of Kentucky Center on Northern Kentucky University’s campus.

36th Boys Semifinals: NCC holds off Highlands, 48-37

 

 

G. Michael Graham Photo. Newport Central Catholic guard Brennan Devoto (23) passes to Zach Pangallo (11) while Highlands' Drew Houliston (25) defends in Tuesday's game. The Thoroughbreds won 48-37 to advance to Thursday's 36th District championship game against either Bellevue or Newport at 7 p.m.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

Many felt the 9th Region preseason favorites would again run away with this boys basketball contest.

But the hosts did not let their season end without a fight staying in the game until the end. The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds built a lead behind Michael Bueter’s shooting and held off the host Highlands Bluebirds, 47-38 in the 36th District Semifinals on Tuesday.

NewCath won its 17th straight overall to move to 29-2 and Highlands’ finished the season at 12-16 for a two-game improvement over last year. The Thoroughbreds have won seven in a row in the series including a 59-22 victory in Fort Thomas on Jan. 22.

“That’s a hostile environment,” said Grant Brannen, NewCath head coach. “I told everyone and nobody believed me. It was going to be a tough one. We knew Highlands had a bad game that last time.”

The Bluebirds came into the game playing their best basketball of the season. They finished the regular season with three consecutive wins.

“It was late in the year,” said Mike Flynn, Highlands head coach of the team coming together. “But it’s never too late. Our guys showed tremendous character. (NewCath) is a better basketball team obviously. I thought we outfought them and outworked them.”

NewCath will shoot for its fifth consecutive district championship Thursday at 7 p.m. back at Highlands. The Thoroughbreds face either Newport (19-9) for the third time this year or Bellevue (14-15) for the second time this year. NewCath beat Newport in a regular-season matchup before downing both teams in the All “A” 9th Region Tournament.

“That was a very ugly win,” said Jake Schulte, NewCath post. “We knew they’d come out with nothing to lose. We’re happy we’re back in region this year. Our main goal has been to get to Rupp (Arena for the state tournament) ever since losing in the regional finals last year.”

Michael Bueter’s outside shooting in the first half turned out to be the difference in the game. He made four three-pointers all in that half to lead the Thoroughbreds with 17 points.

“It was huge,” Bueter said. “(Highlands) was packing it in to make it tough to get the ball inside to our bigs. We needed someone to knock down outside shots to get them open. That’s what I was doing.”

Bueter made three triples in a row to give NewCath the lead for good with an 11-0 run to start the second quarter. Nick Seibert started the run with an offensive putback. The Thoroughbreds led 18-9 with 4:12 left in the second quarter.

Late in the game, NewCath made its free throws to pull away. The Thoroughbreds hit 12-of-15 for the game for 80 percent, including 6-of-9 for 67 percent in the fourth quarter.

Drew McDonald made 9-of-10 free throws to lead NewCath on his way to 13 points. The other three starters in Seibert, Jake Schulte and Zach Pangallo scored six points each to round out the Thoroughbred scoring. McDonald also grabbed 14 rebounds for a double-double.

“Give Highlands credit,” Brannen said. “Coach Flynn had a great game plan and took away all our stuff. We missed our first six shots. I don’t care what people say. You have to knock down the outside shot if they’re going to leave you wide open.”

The Bluebirds saw three players reach double-digits. Drew Houliston and Luke Turner led the way with 12 each and Bailey Witte scored 10. Highlands made 4-of-7 free throws for 57 percent.

“We knew Turner and Houliston were the two guys who could shoot,” Brannen said. “They hit some timely three’s.”

Both teams shot just 31 percent from the field. NewCath made 16-of-51 shots including four three-pointers and Highlands made 15-of-49 with five three-pointers. Houliston and Turner made two each and Witte made the other.

“As usual, I wish we could have shot better,” Flynn said. “That was our bugaboo all year. But as far as effort is concerned, I could not be happier.”

Highlands won the rebounding battle against the taller Thoroughbreds, 40-33. Nick True led the Bluebirds with 10 rebounds and Schulte followed McDonald with eight.

But NewCath did reject seven shots to one for Highlands and recorded 12 steals on 20 Bluebird turnovers. The Bluebirds had just five steals on 10 NewCath turnovers. Pangallo recorded five steals for the Thoroughbreds with Bueter and McDonald rejecting two shots each. Turner recorded three steals for Highlands.

The Bluebirds led a couple times in the first quarter. Karl Hinkel had a three-point play with 17 seconds left to put Highlands up 9-7 after the first quarter.

Highlands cut the margin to three at 28-25 late in the third after a Houliston three-pointer. But Bueter and Seibert buckets gave NewCath a 32-25 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. The Bluebirds came no closer than seven in the final quarter.

The Bluebirds graduate four seniors. They are Turner, Witte, Hinkel and Jake Gronotte.

NewCath advances to sixth All "A" Semifinals since 2000

 

G. Michael Graham Photo. Newport Central Catholic guard Brennan Devoto (23) gets in defensive position in Friday's 60-46 All "A" State Quarterfinal win over Louisville Holy Cross.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

FRANKFORT – Many expected the Newport Central Thoroughbreds boys basketball team to use its size to run away with this All “A” State Quarterfinal contest.

The Thoroughbreds (20-2) did that en route to their eighth straight victory. But it took some time in a 60-46 victory over the 6th Region champion Louisville Holy Cross Cougars (6-16) on Friday at the Frankfort Convention Center.

Holy Cross started off the season losing its first 14 games. But things turned around in the All “A” 6th Region Tournament. The Cougars lost five of those contests by five or fewer points.

NewCath used that size to make 27-of-49 shots for 55 percent. That included 15-of-24 in the first half for 63 percent. Holy Cross made 17-of-44 shots for 39 percent, including 8-of-20 in the first half for 40 percent.

The Thoroughbreds also won the rebounding battle, 33-23 including 23-16 on the defensive glass. They also rejected six shots to two for the Cougars.

Drew McDonald and Jake Schulte did most of the damage for NewCath. McDonald had 17 points and seven rebounds and Schulte had a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds to go with three blocks.

“Our game plan was to make them play up and down,” said Mike Durham, Holy Cross head coach. “We didn’t turn them over as well. But they got the ball inside. Our biggest kid is 6-foot-2. It’s hard to defend that. They probably had 15 pounds per kid on us, too.”

But NewCath did not shoot the ball well from outside making just 2-of-9 shots for 22 percent. Michael Bueter hit both of them on his way to 12 points. NewCath also made just 4-of-12 free-throw attempts for 33 percent compared to 9-of-12 for 75 percent for the Cougars.

“Teams are going to pinch in and we’re eventually going to have to knock down some outside shots if we’re to keep winning,” said Grant Brannen, NewCath head coach. “We’ve only made two three-pointers this whole tournament so far. I think the rest of our opponents have a decent amount of size so they’ll try to match up with our bigs.”

NewCath ventured down the road to battle arch-rival Highlands on Tuesday. The Thoroughbreds pounded the Bluebirds, 59-22 before beating Somerset, 47-33 to open the tournament Thursday.

“Playing Highlands right before we came down here was big,” Schulte said. “It was a great game for us to get our mindset ready for this. We wanted to show who’s number one in the (36th) District.”

Guards Dominique Mack and Jack Schmitt kept Holy Cross in the game in the first quarter. Mack finished with 18 points and Jake Schmitt made two three pointers on his way to 13 points.

Mack had 11 points at halftime. Holy Cross made 3-of-11 three-point attempts for 27 percent.

“You had to stay down on (Mack),” said Nick Seibert, NewCath forward. “He was strong like Coach (Brannen) said. You had to move your feet and make him shoot it over you.”

Holy Cross led most of the first quarter. Schulte had an offensive putback with 1:18 left in the quarter to give the Thoroughbreds their first lead at 12-11. After Bueter scored, Schmitt hit a triple with two seconds left to tie the game at 14 after the first quarter.

But the Thoroughbreds took the lead for good with a 10-0 run to start the second quarter. McDonald scored twice and Schulte added two more buckets during that run that gave NewCath a 24-14 lead with 6:14 left in the first half.

The Thoroughbreds led by as many as 13 three times in the second quarter. They led 30-17 after a Bueter score and took a 34-21 advantage into halftime after Zach Pangallo hit Seibert for an alley-oop lay-up with three seconds left.

“You have to give them credit,” Brannen said. “(Schmitt) hit two big threes there to start (the first quarter) off. Obviously, Mack is a strong guard. We’ve been having our issues with strong guards this year. Luckily, in the second quarter, we executed our game plan and got it inside. That made a difference.”

Holy Cross did trim the margin to nine once at 34-25. But NewCath continued to dominate inside and expanded the margin to as many as 23 points in the third quarter. Ben Weyer gave the Thoroughbreds that advantage of 53-32 with an offensive putback with 1:23 left in the quarter.

NewCath held that lead going into the fourth quarter and that gave some reserves playing time. Holy Cross won the final stanza, 14-7 to make the score more respectable.

The Thoroughbreds face the 14th Region champion Knott County Central Patriots (20-3) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. back at the Frankfort Convention Center. Knott County Central held off 8th Region champion Owen County, 57-49 to punch its ticket to the semifinals.

 

NCC earns big win over Cooper

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

UNION – A fellow 9th Region head basketball coach said the Cooper Jaguars and Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds “might be 1A and 1B” in terms of region favorites.

Both looked far away from that in Tuesday’s crucial early-season contest. But NewCath (3-0) did enough to pull off its third region win in three tries to start the season, 44-42 here.

“They play hard,” said Grant Brannen, NCC head coach. “You can never think even when you’re up double-figures that they won’t come back on you. To come into Cooper is not easy. But to leave with a ‘W’ is nice.”

Brannen said the bench saved the Thoroughbreds in this contest. He said two seniors in guards Colin Dupont and Brennan Devoto along with freshman center Ben Weyer stepped forward in crucial situations to help the team to victory. Starting guard Michael Bueter and centers Drew McDonald and Jake Schulte battled foul trouble most of the game.

“We just need to be in the right position,” Schulte said. “If we do that, we’ll stay out of foul trouble. We got caught in the wrong position a couple times (Tuesday).”

Both teams did not have their full rosters as players from the football teams will be joining them shortly. The Thoroughbreds won the Class 2A state title Saturday and the Jaguars lost to Bowling Green in the 5A title game. Mac Franzen and Jake Haas will be seeing action soon for NewCath while Tyler Morris, Aaron Morgan and A.J. Collins joining Tim Sullivan’s Jaguars soon.

The leading scorer on both teams scored 10 points. Bueter did it for NewCath and Spencer Holland did it for Cooper. Both teams saw eight different players score. Bueter also had four assists and Zach Pangallo had three. Weyer led the Thoroughbreds with three blocks.

NewCath extended the advantage to 18-11 at one point in the second after Nick Seibert hit a free throw. But the Jaguars cut the margin to 20-19 before Dupont made two free throws to give NewCath a 22-19 halftime advantage.

Cooper cut the margin to one at one point in the third. But NewCath answered when Weyer put in an offensive rebound. The Thoroughbreds led 31-27 entering the final stanza.

NewCath scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to go up 37-27. Seibert had an offensive rebound and jumper and Schulte made a lay-up.

But the Jaguars did not go away quietly. Holland made a three-pointer to trim the margin to 43-40 in the final 20 seconds before Bueter hit a free-throw for NewCath. Cooper guard Shawn McNair made a lay-up as time expired.

NewCath might have put the game away better with a better percentage at the free-throw line. The Thoroughbreds made just 10-of-21 free throws for about 47 percent compared to 11-of-16 for about 69 percent for the Jaguars.

Both teams started out in man-to-man defenses. The Thoroughbreds took a 6-2 lead behind Bueter and Pangallo scores and never trailed the rest of the contest.

The Thoroughbred do not play again until Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. They travel to Boone County in a rematch of the 9th Region title game from last year.