Simple adjustment helps NC rally past Conner

G. Michael Graham Photo. Newport Central Catholic junior Loren Zimmerman (15) directs traffic in Tuesday's 9th Region quarterfinal contest. The Thoroughbreds downed Conner, 65-55 for their first region win since 2011.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS – The vaunted on-ball pressure defense of the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds girls basketball team is no secret in the 9th Region.

All "A" Semifinals: Danville upsets NC

G. Michael Graham Photo. Newport Central Catholic senior Nikki Kiernan takes the pass and scores a fast-break lay-up in Saturday's All "A" Semifinal loss to Danville. Kiernan scored 16 and grabbed 17 rebounds for a double-double.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

FRANKFORT – It did not look good at halftime.

The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds trailed the upstart Danville Lady Admirals, 34-24 at that point of the All “A” State Semifinals despite a size advantage because of a bad second quarter. The fears came to fruition as Danville (13-4) pulled a second straight upset, 71-55 Saturday at the Frankfort Convention Center.

NC girls take care of Boone County

G. Michael Graham Photo. Newport Central Catholic guard Michaela Ware goes in for a lay-up in Saturday's win over Boone County. The Thoroughbreds stayed undefeated at 5-0 with a 58-46 win on The Hill.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

NEWPORT – They showed there may not be much opponents can do in the big win Saturday when certain things happen.

The Boone County Lady Rebels basketball team tried to slow down standout post Nikki Kiernan and the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds by throwing two and sometimes three players at her just like last year. That resulted in a 45-37 win at Boone County last year and was also NewCath’s first loss of the season.

But the Thoroughbreds made sure that did not have the same effect this time around. NewCath stayed undefeated at 5-0 with a 58-46 9th Region win over the Lady Rebels (2-2) on The Hill. The two squads have combined to win eight of the last 11 region crowns.

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 edges Highlands, 56-54

Photos by G. Michael Graham. Top: Newport Central Catholic head coach George Stoll (center) discusses strategy in Friday's game at Highlands. Bottom: Highlands center Jesse Daley prepares to shoot a free throw in the game. NewCath won 56-54 to extend its winning streak to eight in a row over the rivals.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

This game showed once again that anything can happen in rivalry basketball contests.

The Highlands Bluebirds girls basketball team came into Friday’s 36th District showdown with the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds as slight favorites with more experience. But the Thoroughbreds made more plays down the stretch to pull off a 56-54 victory and extend their winning streak to eight in a row dating back to a 54-48 Highlands win on Jan. 9, 2009 in Fort Thomas.

“They grew up a little bit,” said George Stoll, NewCath head coach. “It’s tough playing a good team that is supposed to win on its home floor and us being so young. You have to learn from it. I’m proud of them.”

Both teams received huge games from their main scorers. Junior post Nikki Kiernan led everyone with 22 points for the victors and made another double-double with 12 rebounds to go with three blocked shots.

Teammate Loren Zimmerman came up huge in the fourth quarter. She scored six of her eight points in that stanza as the Thoroughbreds (10-3) held off the Bluebirds (10-5).

On the other side, Highlands senior Twin Towers Jesse “Dirt” Daley and Leah Schaefer scored 15 points each. Daley grabbed 14 rebounds for a double-double and Schaefer had nine. Schafer also had two assists and two steals.

“We both have good centers or power forwards,” Stoll said. “We had a hard time guarding Leah and Jesse had a good game as well. But I can’t get too upset because we came out with the W.”

The shooting stats were almost even. The Thoroughbreds made 20-of-53 shots for 45 percent and the Bluebirds made 23-of-55 for 42 percent.

But NewCath made four three-pointers to two for Highlands. Kiernan hit two triples with Michaela Ware and MiKayla Seibert making one each for NewCath. Brianna Adler and Lydia Graves made one each for the Highlands.

“We know we made some mistakes in the first half against a good team like NC that we can’t do,” said Jaime Richey, Highlands head coach. “It’s a typical NC team that likes to put a lot of ball pressure on. They did a great job guarding our perimeter players. But we had some great spots.”

The Bluebirds shot better at the free-throw line making 6-of-9. NewCath continued to struggle there making just 4-of-14 for 29 percent.

“We were making a run at the beginning,” said Stephanie Lewis, NewCath junior. “Now, we’re just cold. I feel like if we just keep practicing (free throws and shooting), we’re going to get hot in the tournament.”

Highlands won the rebounding battle 35-32. But NewCath won the steals and turnover battle. The Thoroughbreds had 14 turnovers and eight steals to 16 turnovers and six steals for the hosts. Lewis added 11 rebounds for NewCath to go with nine points and Ware had four assists and three steals.

The game stayed close in the first half. Kiernan scored with two seconds left to give NewCath a 26-24 halftime advantage.

But the Thoroughbreds looked like they’d run away in the third quarter. Kiernan sparked a 16-6 NewCath run to give the Thoroughbreds a 42-31 lead entering the fourth quarter.

But Schaefer caught fire in the fourth quarter scoring 10 to lead the Highlands rally. She scored six when the Bluebirds came back to tie the game at 53 with a 13-2 run including a jumper in the center with 49.3 seconds left. NewCath led 51-40 with 4:06 remaining.

“If we’d have played like we did in the fourth quarter, we would’ve won the game,” Daley said. “We got tired, lost our focus and had too many brain lapses. You just can’t let that happen. We have to stay mentally in the game. You have to make yourself stay focused.”

Highlands got back into the game by speeding up the tempo with full-court pressure in the fourth quarter. NewCath had problems with it after building its lead by slowing down the tempo and working the ball around for good shots.

“It’s very difficult when teams speed up,” Zimmerman said. “It’s about making great passes and finding the open player. You have to make sure you look up the floor.”

NewCath called a timeout before Ware hit a lay-up on the left side with 25 seconds left to give the Thoroughbreds a 55-53 advantage. Highlands then called a timeout with 16.1 seconds left.

After the timeout, Alex Combs drove to the bucket for the Bluebirds and drew a foul. She made 1-of-2 free throws forcing Highlands to foul Kiernan. Kiernan made 1-of-2 free throws with 4.4 seconds remaining before the Bluebirds missed the game-winning attempt.

“I told the girls it wasn’t our last three possessions that lost us the game,” Richey said. “It was the first half when we weren’t getting offensive rebounds and giving up offensive rebounds. Every possession counts.”

Highands did receive a scare with 6:07 left in the game when Abner went down clutching her left knee. After the game, Abner said she’ll be fine. Abner missed a good portion of last basketball season with a torn right Anterior Cruciated Ligament, Medial Collateral Ligament and Meniscus when Boone County standout Sydney Moss undercut her going for a loose ball. Abner also missed most of soccer season in the fall after injuring her right Meniscus.

Both teams return to action today. NewCath faces Louisville Sacred Heart (12-1) at 5:30 p.m. and Highlands travels to Erlanger to face St. Henry (6-7) at 7:30 p.m.