The Newport Central Catholic girls basketball team defeated Clinton County 61-49 Saturday in the semifinals of the girls Touchstone Energy All “A” Classic. Its reward: a date in the finals at 1 p.m. today against the top-ranked team in Kentucky.

        The Thoroughbreds will face Jackson County, which beat Somerset 67-45 in the semifinals and previously defeated NCC's Campbell County rival, Bishop Brossart, in the first round. Jackson County is 11th in USA Today's Super 25.

        Amy Meyers led the Throughbreds (16-4) Saturday with a game-high 22 points on 11-of-17 shooting. Nicole Chiodi added 18 points, and Maria Chiodi, a senior, scored nine points to go along with 12 rebounds, six assists and three steals.

        Clinton County (21-3) was plagued by its own mistakes, as NCC scored 29 points on 23 Clinton turnovers.

        Sophomore center Angela Brown led Clinton with 14 points, 15 rebounds and six blocked shots. Twin eighth-graders Amber and Paige Guffey both added 11 points.

        NCC (16-4) — M. Chiodi 4-9 1-3 9, Maudlin 1-3 0-2 2, Kessen 0-1 0-0 0, Burks 3-6 0-0 6, N. Chiodi 7-14 3-5 18, Meyers 11-17 0-0 22, E. Ziegler 2-10 0-0 4. Totals 28-60 4-10 61.

        CLINTON CO. (21-3) — Curry 0-2 0-0 0, A. Guffey 4-12 3-5 11, Matthews 2-6 0-0 6, Abbott 0-4 0-0 0, Vitato 2-4 0-0 4, Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Ballinger 1-1 1-2 3, P. Guffey 4-6 3-3 11, A. Brown 7-9 0-0 14. Totals 20-45 7-10 49.

        NCC ....... 17 15 18 11—61

        CC ....... 16 9 9 15—49

        3-pointers: NCC 1-2 (M. Chiodi 0-1, N. Chiodi 1-1), CC 2-13 (Curry 0-1, A. Guffey 0-4, Matthews 2-2, Abbott 0-3, Vitato 0-1, P. Guffey 0-2). Rebounds: NCC 34 (M. Chiodi 12), CC 29 (A. Brown 15). Assists: NCC 16 (M. Chiodi 6), CC 14 (A. GUffey 6). Total fouls: NCC 11, CC 11.

        • Calvary Christian 54, Dixie Heights 40 — Lisa Van Berkel scored seven of her 17 points in the third quarter as Calvary Christian erased a one-point deficit. Becca Blaine added 13 points for Calvary.

        Julie Farley scored 13 points to lead Dixie Heights.

        CALVARY (54) — Woods 3 4 10, Blaine 5 3 13, Krumpelman 2 0 4, Adams 2 1 4, Curry 2 1 5, VanBerkel 7 2 17. Totals: 21 11 54.

        DIXIE (40) — Farley 5 3 13, Shaundel 1 0 3, Lingelbach 2 2 7, Wright 4 2 10, Durrett 1 1 3, Luessen 2 0 4. Totals: 15 8 40.

        Calvary Ch. ....... 13  10  14  17—54

        Dixie Heights ....... 15   9   6  10—40

        3-pointers: C—VanBerkel. D—Shaundel, Lingelbach. Records: D 11-7.

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