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.
FRANKFORT –
It came down to a battle of size against speed and whichever basketball team
controlled the tempo to its liking would most likely come out victorious.
That turned
out to be the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds in the All “A” Boys State
Championship on Sunday at the Frankfort Convention Center. They slowed the
tempo down, pounded the ball inside to their tall posts and ran away for a
75-54 win over the Bardstown Tigers for their second state championship. The
other title came in 2000.
The
Thoroughbreds have won 10 in a row to move to 22-2 since dropping consecutive
games to defending state champion Louisville Trinity and Covington Catholic.
They had lost in their four previous appearances in the state semifinals,
including 2011.
“I told the guys this morning that we have to play to
our identity,” said Grant Brannen,
NewCath head coach. “We have to move the
ball around and execute our plays. Those kids did it to perfection. They came
ready.”
The Tigers (19-6)
also came into the game with hopes of winning their second title, but had to
settle for runner-up honors to another 9th Region opponent. They lost 52-51 on
a last-second shot to Covington Holy Cross last year.
“They used their mismatches and we should have used
ours and capitalized on them as well,”
said James Brewer, Bardstown head coach. “That’s
a good team. My guys played hard from day one until now. I’m very proud of
them. It just wasn’t God’s will for us to come out victorious.”
NewCath
again had balanced scoring as four of the five starters reached double-figures.
It started in the paint with Drew McDonald. The tournament’s Most Valuable
Player tore Bardstown up in the interior for a double-double of 21 points and
11 rebounds. McDonald made 8-of-13 shots and 5-of-6 free-throw attempts. He
added four assists and two blocked shots.
“Our size just killed them,” McDonald said. “They
couldn’t guard Jake and me down low, and we took advantage of it. I have two
years (of high school) left and I’m looking forward to them. But I’m definitely
going to enjoy this.”
Senior
guard Michael Bueter matched McDonald’s efforts with 21 points and four assists.
He made 5-of-8 shots including 2-of-4 from downtown and 9-of-11 free-throw
attempts.
Bueter and
Jake Schulte joined McDonald on the All-Tournament Team. Schulte had 12 points
making 6-of-8 shots and nabbing eight rebounds to go with two blocked shots.
Nick
Seibert and Zach Pangallo also had good games for the Thoroughbreds. Seibert
finished with 11 points making 3-of-6 shots and all five free-throw attempts
and added three steals.
Pangallo
directed the offense against Bardstown’s 2-2-1 press. He finished with eight
points making the other 2-of-4 NewCath three-point shots.
“We saw the scouting report and saw the middle was
wide open so we wanted to get the ball to the middle,” Pangallo said. “We
do our best to stay calm and get the ball up the court as fast as we can. We
don’t try to rush things because we don’t want any dumb turnovers.”
Seibert
again drew a tough defensive task against Bardstown guard Devonte Grundy.
Seibert used his 6-foot-5-inch frame to limit Grundy to 14 points and 12
rebounds. Grundy made just 5-of-20 shots, including one three-pointer and all
three free-throw attempts.
“We know that defense wins games,” Seibert said. “My
job is to make guys go to the basket. I have two tall bigs that are going to
help me at all times. We just played hard. That’s what got the job done.”
Elijay
Cowherd came off the bench and led Bardstown with 21 points on 3-of-5 from
three-point range. He added three assists.
But the
Thoroughbreds held Marcus Cosby to seven points. Cosby made just 2-of-6 shots
including 1-of-4 from three-point range.
Bardstown
won the rebounding battle, 35-26 including 21-6 on the offensive glass. But the
Tigers still did not shoot better than the Thoroughbreds and outscored NewCath
just 16-11 on second-chance points.
NewCath
again shot an astounding 25-of-42 from the field for 60 percent and made
21-of-25 free throws for 84 percent. Bardstown made just 19-of-60 shots for 32
percent and 11-of-12 free throws for 92 percent.
The
Thoroughbreds put the game away with an 18-0 run in the second half. That
ballooned their 38-37 lead with 3:25 left in the third to 56-37 with 6:31 left
in the game. McDonald scored seven during that run.
“Getting that double-digit lead was huge,” Brannen said. “We
went on a nice run and were able to put it away.”
The Tigers
cut the margin to 11 once after that when Cosby scored on a three-point play. That
made the score 60-49 in favor of NewCath with 4:14 remaining in the game.
McDonald
had given NewCath the lead for good at 35-33 with 6:06 remaining in the third.
Schulte assisted on the play.
NewCath
finished the first half with a 5-0 run to go up 31-26 at halftime. Schulte
scored on an offensive putback and Pangallo made a triple.
There were
10 lead changes prior to that point. Bardstown’s largest lead was one point on
three separate occasions.
The Thoroughbreds
return to action Tuesday. They cross the Ohio River to face North College Hill
at 7:30 p.m.
NEWPORT –
The in-town 36th District rivals hoped to put up a huge challenge.
But the
Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds boys basketball team used its balance to
send the Newport Wildcats (8-4 overall) tumbling down the hill with a
convincing 80-51 victory on Wednesday. NewCath stayed unbeaten at 12-0 and
moved to 7-0 in 9th Region action and 5-0 at home.
The route
started with NewCath’s shooting percentage. The Thoroughbreds made 33-of-56 shots
for 59 percent, including 21-of-30 shots in the second half for 70 percent.
NewCath also made 10-of-13 free throws for 77 percent and four three-pointers.
That led to
balanced scoring with all five Thoroughbred starters reachind double-digits.
Guard Michael Bueter made 8-of-12 shots for 67 percent and all three free
throws on his way to 20 points to lead the way. Bueter also had six assists as
NewCath recorded 17 to seven for the visitors.
“We shared the ball well,” said Grant Brannen, NewCath head coach. “When we share the ball well, we’re tough
to beat. We’ve done that these last two games.”
NewCath
also scored a lot of points down low with its size advantage. Drew McDonald
scored 12 points for the Thoroughbreds with Nick Seibert and Jake Schulte
adding 11 each.
The trio
also contributed in other ways. Schulte finished one rebound shy of a
double-double with nine as NewCath won the rebounding battle, 33-27. McDonald
added three steals and Seibert had rejected two Newport shots.
NewCath’s
fifth starter in point guard Zach Pangallo scored four points in the fourth
quarter to score 10 points. He also made two three-pointers, dished off three
assists and recorded two steals.
“We knew coming into the season that we had to play
together to win a lot of games,”
Pangallo said. “We have so many weapons
on our team so we can do a lot of damage. We want to spread the ball around.”
On the
other side, the Wildcats made 22-of-55 shots for 40 percent, including three
three-pointers. Newport also made just 4-of-8 free-throw attempts for 50
percent.
The
Wildcats saw just two players reach double-digits. Guard JaSean Short and post
Cody Pearson had 13 points each. NewCath held Short’s brother JaQuan to three
points.
“Those two are really good,” Brannen said. “We
were trying to contain (the Short brother). They’re obviously very talented
players. There’s a good chance we’re going to see these guys down the road
sometime.”
Newport led
twice in the first quarter at 4-0 and 8-4. But NewCath used an 18-6 run to go
ahead for good at 24-14 with 6:12 left in the second quarter. The Thoroughbreds
led 17-14 after the first quarter and 32-23 at halftime.
NewCath
pulled away in the third quarter winning it 23-7 to go up 55-30 entering the
fourth quarter. The Thoroughbreds ended the quarter with a 14-0 run. McDonald
scored his six points of the quarter during that stretch.
That
lopsided score let the reserves play in the fourth quarter. NewCath won that
quarter as well, 25-21. The Throughbreds saw 11 different players score. After
Bueter’s eight points in the final quarter, Pangallo, Jake Haas and Josh
Verkamp scored four points each in that quarter.
NewCath
plays its next three contests at home against some good competition. The first
contest is Friday against the defending state champion and second-ranked Louisville
Trinity Shamrocks (9-3).
“They’re very good,” Brannen said of Trinity. “They’re
physical. Obviously, we have our work cut out for us. We know it’s a big game.
It’s about trying to get respect around the state.”
