Wednesday, January 10, 2001
CovCath tops No. 2 Conner
Physical play lifts No. 5 Colonels
By Ray Schaefer
Enquirer contributor
HEBRON — If there are two things Covington Catholic basketball coach Mike Listerman likes, they are balanced scoring and players who work hard.
Listerman and the Colo nels got both in Tuesday's 80-61 win at Conner, ranked No.2 in Northern Kentucky in the Enquirer's coaches poll. Four CovCath players scored in double figures, and three — juniors Brian Lewin, Greg Hiltz and Jonathan Blazejewski — shared the game high with 14 apiece.
“We haven't passed that well since the first game of the season,” Listerman said. “People have to guard all of us.”
Blazejewski was the most pleasant surprise. His 14 points were a season high — not bad for someone who lost his starting job after spraining his right ankle Dec.28. He now is the first player off the bench
“You can't complain,” Blazejewski said. “It doesn't help.”
Conner was going for a school-record 10th straight win Tuesday. But coach Scott Thomas said CovCath mostly pushed his team around.
“It was the physical play,” Thomas said. “We haven't faced that much, and we didn't respond.”
CovCath, ranked fifth in the Enquirer poll, won its fifth straight game. And the Colonels didn't have to come from behind as they did in Sunday's 71-69 win over Akron Hoban, where they erased a 4-point Hoban lead in the final two minutes.
After senior forward Terry Johnson's basket gave Conner (9-1) a 16-14 lead with 1:40 left in the first quarter, CovCath (8-4) left the Cougars behind in the second.
There were many reasons why Conner couldn't keep up.
Start with CovCath's passing. When its guards weren't finding teammates under the basket, they sent the ball to the perimeter. And the Colonels made the 3-pointers — Blazejewski hit two, and senior Marc Bain and Hiltz had one apiece.
“We were concentrating on (CovCath junior guard Matt) Finke and (senior center Chad) Wachs,” Thomas said. “Which left Blazejewski in the corner.”
Speaking of the perimeter, CovCath's defense was stingy. The Colonels not only kept Conner from getting the ball to leading scorer Terry Johnson, who entered the game averaging 14.2 points a game, but also held him to only 10 points.
And finally, Conner had perhaps its longest scoring drought of the season.
After Johnson's field goal, the Cougars didn't score again until senior guard Marcus Johnson's basket with 6:15 left in the half. Conner didn't score again for another 3:48, while CovCath went on a 21-4 run and took a 35-20 lead.
Senior guard Jeremy Stephenson led Conner with 17 points.
COVINGTON CATHOLIC (80) — Bain 2 1 7, Hiltz 5 2 14, Lewin 7 0 14, Finke 4 2 11, Quast 2 0 4, Wilcox 1 0 2, Blazejewski 6 0 14, Albanese 1 0 2, Wachs 2 2 6, Middendorf 3 0 6. Totals: 34 6 80.
CONNER (61) — Brown 5 0 12, M. Johnson 3 2 8, Stephenson 4 8 17, T. Johnson 5 0 10, Ballou 0 2 2, Lafollette 1 0 2. Totals: 21 16 61.
Cov. Catholic ....... 18 23 18 21—80
Conner ....... 16 9 21 16—61
3-point goals: CovCath-Hiltz 2, Blazejewski 2, Finke, Bain; Conner-Brown 2, Stephenson. Records: CovCath 8-4, Conner 9-1.
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