Saturday, February 10, 2001
No. 2 CovCath trips No. 1 Scott in OT
By Ray Schaefer
Enquirer contributor
Scott's Ben Lye and CovCath's Chad Wachs wrestle for a rebound.
(Mike Simons photos)
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Covington Catholic had just watched Scott's Justin Morris sink a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send Friday's game to overtime, but CovCath coach Mike Listerman told his players they were right where they should be.
As it turned out, Listerman was right. Junior Bryan Lewin's 19 points led the Colonels, ranked second in the Enquirer's Northern Kentucky coaches' poll, to a 64-60 victory over the No.1 Eagles.
Lewin called the win an example of not giving up, but he also kept perspective.
“All it does is give us bragging rights for three weeks,” Lewin said. “Then comes district and region. That's when games count. This means nothing if we don't win region.”
The win proved another thing: Never count out CovCath.
CovCath (16-5) snapped Scott's 10-game winning streak, and it overcame a 45-33 Scott lead with 3:47 left in the third quarter.
“We're not going to quit,” Listerman said. “I've tried to instill that.”
Scott's Justin Morris drives by Greg Hiltz.
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CovCath junior Matt Finke added 12 points and teammate Adam Quast chipped in with 11. Listerman and Lewin said it was Mike Albanese who saved the Colonels with his defense on Scott senior center Ben Lye. Lye led the Eagles with 20 points before fouling out.
“We brought him in on Lye,” Listerman said. “I felt that the heat and them not going two-deep was beginning to wear on Lye.”
Scott coach Jeff Trame said the loss had nothing to do with Lye or lack of depth.
“We just didn't take care of the basketball,” Trame said. “We didn't take care of an eight-point lead with four minutes left.”
Scott (19-3) led 51-43 with 4:19 to go and 53-45 with 3:16 remaining, and Finke had four fouls.
Then CovCath showed its depth. Jonathan Blazejewski and Albanese scored; Quast scored with 2:03 left; and Lewin's two free throws with 1:31 remaining cut Scott's lead to 54-53.
It was a far cry from the first half, when the Colonels went nearly four minutes without scoring, and missed six chances at taking a lead.
CovCath coach Mike Listerman argues a call.
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Scott might think about how it did not take advantage. When the CovCath bench was hit with a technical foul with 3:28 left in the first half, the Eagles missed five straight free throws — which would have extended a 27-25 lead.
Lewin's bucket with 20 seconds left in regulation put CovCath up 55-54, and Chad Wachs' free throws made it 57-54 with 7.3 seconds remaining.
Scott's Jamie Medved dribbled to half court and called time out. With 3.3 to go, Morris threw the inbounds pass to Daniel Flowers, who immediately gave it back to Morris near the top of the key.
With Lye gone in overtime, CovCath's strategy was simple: Send the ball inside at every chance. It worked — Lewin scored five of the Colonels' seven points.
Scott had one last chance to tie the game, but with seven seconds to go, a 3-pointer rolled out. Wachs clinched the win with a free throw with five seconds to go.
“We knew when we came to overtime we would win, because we played more players than they did,” Lewin said.
COVINGTON CATHOLIC (64) — Hiltz 1 0 3, Lewin 8 3 19, Finke 4 4 12, Quast 4 2 11, Blazejewski 1 0 2, Albanese 1 0 2, Wachs 2 5 9, Middendorf 2 2 6. Totals 23 16 64.
SCOTT (60) — Morris 3 2 9, Rohan 1 0 2, Stevenson 3 0 6, Flowers 1 1 3, Thompson 5 3 14, Lye 9 2 20, Medved 3 0 6. Totals: 25 8 60.
Cov. Catholic ....... 18 11 11 17 7 - 64
Scott ....... 23 10 14 10 3 - 60
Three-point goals: CC- Hiltz, Quast.; S-Morris, Thompson. Records: CC 16-5, S 19-3.
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No. 2 CovCath trips No. 1 Scott in OT