Wednesday, March 08, 2000
NewCath eliminates CovCath
Thoroughbreds to meet Conner in semifinals
BY RAY SCHAEFER
Enquirer contributor
UNION — When Newport Central Catholic misses nine of 14 3-pointers and leading scorer Ronny Dawn misses his scoring average by eight points, it seemingly would spell defeat.
But not in Tuesday's boys Ninth Region first-round game against Covington Catholic. Junior center Cory Myers scored 20 points to lead the Thoroughbreds to a 64-40 win at Ryle.
NewCath (29-5) meets Conner in the semifinals at 8p.m. Friday. The Cougars eliminated Scott 68-60.
The win was NewCath's 19th straight and more than makes up for a 69-49 CovCath win Jan.11.
Myers perhaps took the first game personally. He scored two points in that game and watched CovCath junior center Chad Wachs block six shots.
“We lost by 20,” Myers said. “We could've beaten them by 10 last time if we'd played our game. We just came out more fired up this time.”
Dawn said scoring only 14 points Tuesday (he had 25 the first game) was no problem: “We had other guys step up. It's simple as that.”
The trends in Tuesday's game were evident early, and they all went NewCath's way.
Start with the NewCath defense.
The Thoroughbreds held CovCath scoreless the final 4:21 of the first quarter, the last 3:10 of the second, the last 2:21 of the third and a 3:14 stretch of the fourth.
CovCath senior guard Steve Purdon, who scored 26 in January, was held to 13 Tuesday.
CovCath (20-9) made just eight of 25 field goals in the half and 15 of 56 for the night.
Next were NewCath's scoring runs.
The Thoroughbreds started with a 7-0 streak over the final 3:51 of the first quarter, outscored CovCath 11-4 in the third, and knocked out the Colonels with a 20-7 run and 57-41 lead with 1:24 left in the game.
Thirdly, rebounding. NewCath (28-5) won that battle 40-33.
Finally, Myers' dominance inside. He grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked three shots.
“We got our tails kicked in every phase of the game,” CovCath coach Dan Tieman said. “They got every loose ball there was. They killed us on the boards.”
Once Dawn and fellow guards Vince Bonhaus and Tony Bacigalupo got past CovCath's perimeter defense, they could either shoot or pass to Myers.
“They took other parts of our game away,” NewCath coach Ron Dawn said. “Cory, he was much more aggressive. Teams have tried to take our 3-point shot away; I think we were more patient (Tuesday).”
Bonhaus added 10 points for NewCath, and Dawn had three assists.
COVINGTON CATHOLIC (40) — McQuade 3 0 8, Quast 1 0 3, Blazejewski 1 0 2, Finke 2 5 9, Dietz 1 0 2, Purdon 6 1 13, Middendorf 0 1 1, Lewin 1 0 2. Totals: 15 7 40.
NEWPORT CENTRAL CATHOLIC (64) — Bonhaus 2 6 10, Mayer 1 0 2, Bacigalupo 2 3 8, R. Dawn 4 4 14, Meyer 2 0 4, Wallenhorst 1 0 3, Myers 7 6 20, Lynn 1 0 3. Totals: 20 19 64.
Covington Catholic ....... 6 14 4 16—40
Newport Central Catholic ....... 15 11 11 27—64
3-point goals: CC-McQuade 2, Quast. NCC-R. Dawn 2, Wallenhorst, Lynn, Bacigalupo. Records: CC 20-9, NCC 28-5.
• Conner 68, Scott 60, boys Ninth Region at Ryle — Junior guard Jeremy Stephenson's 19 points led Conner to its ninth win in the last 12 games.
The Cougars meet Newport Central Catholic in the semifinals at 8p.m. Friday.
Conner won its first regional game since winning the title in 1993.
“People are understanding their roles,” Conner coach Scott Thomas said. “I really think Scott didn't shoot as well as they'd have liked. We pretty much limited them to one shot.”
Scott closed to 35-31 on guard Justin Morris' field goal with 7:43 left in the game, but Conner's 13-4 run over the next minutes resulted in a 48-35 advantage.
Chris Thompson led Scott with 23 points.
CONNER (68) — Brown 2 0 5, Hudgens 4 4 14, M. Johnson 2 1 5, Stephenson 4 9 19, T. Johnson 3 0 6, Michels 5 1 11, Edwards 2 4 8. Totals: 22 19 68.
SCOTT (60) — Morris 5 4 15, Hicks 1 0 3, Richardson 2 0 6, Thompson 8 6 23, Lye 4 2 10, Kuehne 1 0 2, Krinest 0 1 1. Totals: 21 13 60.
Conner ....... 7 20 10 31—68
Scott ....... 11 8 10 31—60
3-point goals: C-Hudgens 2, Stephenson 2, Brown. S-Richardson 2, Morris, Hicks, Thompson. Records: C 15-11, S 18-12.
Indiana boys
• Lawrenceburg 62, South Ripley 52, Sectional Tournament at Lawrenceburg — Matt Dausch hit two crucial second-half 3-pointers to lead Lawrenceburg.
Lawrenceburg advances to meet North Decatur Friday night.
SOUTH RIPLEY (52) — Gunter 4 1 10, Henry 2 1 5, Snyder 6 0 14, Perry 5 1 12, Lowe 3 0 6, Conover 1 0 3, Obendorf 1 0 2. Totals: 22 3 52.
LAWRENCEBURG (62) — Blackwell 4 3 12, Lansing 5 3 13, Pulliam 3 0 6, Yoon 5 4 14, Hoffman 4 1 9, Dausch 2 1 7, Fluty 0 1 1. Totals: 23 13 62.
• Muncie Central 65, East Central 40, 10th Sectional Tournament at New Castle — Johnny Miller scored 17 to lead Muncie to victory.
EAST CENTRAL (40) — Gesell 2 0 6, Bill 1 0 2, Theising 6 3 15, Hoog 2 4 8, Dever 2 3 7, Wagner 1 0 2. Totals: 14 10 40.
MUNCIE CENTRAL (65) — J. Miller 7 2 17, Woodgett 1 0 2, O'Neal 3 1 8, Herwehe 1 0 2, Hobbs 2 2 6, Flake 2 0 4, Cravens 3 0 6, B. Miller 3 7 15, Cooper 1 1 3, Johnson 1 0 2. Totals: 24 13 65.
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