Saturday, January 08, 2000
No. 1 CovCath rallies for victory
Colonels click behind Purdon for 63-53 win
BY NEIL SCHMIDT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
PARK HILLS — Covington Catholic's week provided a microcosm of the Ninth Region boys basketball race. The top-ranked Colonels lost to a 2-8 team Tuesday, then beat a 10-2 team Friday.
Welcome, parity.
“We've had some off nights, and when we're off, we can definitely be beaten,” CovCath senior Steve Purdon said. “I hope we've gotten those nights out of our system early.”
Friday, CovCath operated at peak efficiency. The Colonels staged a third-quarter comeback to race past No.3 Simon Kenton 63-53. They had rallied in similar fashion eight days earlier to beat the Pioneers 60-48 in the finals of the Hoopin' It Up Classic in London.
Simon Kenton (10-3) has certainly seen CovCath click. Others, like Holy Cross — which stunned the Colonels 56-54 Tuesday — haven't.
“We talked about not taking anyone lightly,” CovCath coach Dan Tieman said. “And we saw what happened when we do — Holy Cross took it to us.
“I know we were picked No.1, and potentially we can be there at the end of the year. But we've got a lot of growing to do.”
CovCath is 9-3, and none of its losses — Scott, Bishop Brossart and Holy Cross — was to a preseason top-five team. It has won two games in overtime and two others at the buzzer in regulation.
Go easy on the Colonels. They returned just two starters, senior guards Purdon and Brian McQuade, and have been searching for the right lineups and rotations like everyone else.
A key is the play of junior Chad Wachs, their only true post player. The 6-foot-4, 195-pound center was a starter the first half of last season but sat the bench down the stretch. This year, his consistency has improved.
Friday, Wachs totaled 13 points, six rebounds, five blocks, a steal and an assist. He is averaging 11 points, seven rebounds and 3.3 blocks.
“We got Chad the ball inside tonight, which opened things up for Purdon and McQuade outside,” Tieman said. “Chad has been playing well. He's got great vision; he's a great passer.”
Said Wachs: “I was nervous last year. But all this year, I've felt more confident.”
Simon Kenton held the lead much of the first half and still led 36-32 early in the third quarter. Then the Colonels broke through with a critical series of second-chance scores and transition baskets in a 16-4 run.
“They got the six or eight second-chance points that we had to have,” Pioneers coach Scott Humphrey said. “With two teams this closely matched, it usually comes down to who gets that one spurt.”
Purdon scored six of his game-high 18 points in that flurry. Simon Kenton never again would be within five points of the lead, and McQuade — an 87 percent foul shooter — made six free throws in the final 75 seconds to ice matters.
“McQuade is as good as gold at the line,” Tieman said.
CovCath senior Brett Dietz and his backup, Justin Baute, held Simon Kenton star guard Jordan Stowers to 10 points, seven fewer than his average.
The Pioneers, who graduated six of their top seven players from last season, can take solace knowing CovCath is the only team to have beaten them the past 12 games. They began the year No.9 in the Enquirer coaches poll.
“At the beginning of the year, no one expected our kids to be playing any big games,” Humphrey said. “I'm happy with this team, how hard they go at it every game.”
SIMON KENTON (53) — Ballinger 6 0 12, Stowers 3 4 10, Coppage 4 1 10, Cristello 5 0 10, Piper 3 0 6, Baker 2 0 5. Totals: 23 5 53.
COVINGTON CATHOLIC (63) — Purdon 6 4 18, McQuade 3 8 15, Wachs 5 3 13, Finke 5 1 11, Middendorf 2 0 4, Dietz 1 0 2. Totals: 22 16 63.
Simon Kenton ....... 18 13 9 13—53
Covington Catholic ....... 16 13 17 17—63
3-point field goals: SK—Baker, Coppage; CC—
Purdon 2, McQuade. Records: CovCath 9-3, SK 10-3.
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