Dixie Heights hosted St. Henry in the first district battle of the season for the two and it
turned into a game of runs that favored the Colonels.
During those runs, the Colonels used their maturity to find open looks and knock
down 11 three-pointers leading to a 74-59 win over the Crusaders.
“I thought this was a good example of us doing better at giving up good shots to find
a teammate’s great shot,” Colonels coach Chad Fields said.
The Colonels started the game on a 9-0 run and a 7-0 run at the end of the first quarter to take a 29-13 lead.
St. Henry answered with their own 7-0 run in the second quarter, but before halftime, Dixie scored 11 straight leading 48-25 at the half.
Out of the locker room, it was the Crusaders’ turn again. A spurt of nine points cut
the margin to 14 before it was put to a stop by Dixie’s Jaxson Gray. St. Henry never ran out of gas, but some costly turnovers and contested shots put the game out of reach.
“I learned we have no quit. That was positive,” Crusaders coach Dave Faust said. “The disappointing thing was we didn’t guard. Chad does a great job with those kids running their offense. They’re patient on offense. We were impatient and we settled for too many threes. I mean they had 11 threes, and I would say a majority of them were uncontested.”
It was Dixie’s third win in the last ten meetings with St. Henry and it wasn’t a small
or simple task.
“To match St. Henry’s toughness and intensity was a pretty decent test for us and I
feel like our guys did just that. This is something we’ve been striving for the whole
year. It was a challenge.” Fields said.
The Colonels spread the love with four guys in double-digit scoring. Hudson Blank
led with 22 points, while Griffin Derry added 18 off four 3-pointers. Owen Niehues
put up 16 and Jaxson Gray used a second half spurt to finish with 11.
The Crusaders were led in scoring by Andrew Reis and Carson Shea with 21 apiece.
St. Henry moves to 4-8 and 0-1 in district play. Next up, the Crusaders have Boone County at home on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
The Colonels improve to 8-5 overall, and 1-0 in the 34th. They go on the road next to meet Ryle on Friday at 7:45 p.m.
COLONELS 74, CRUSADERS 59
ST. HENRY — 13-12-21-13 — 59
DIXIE HEIGHTS — 29-17-14-14 — 74
Scoring
Dixie Heights (74) — Blank 22, Derry 18, Niehues 16, Gray 11, Rubemeyer 7, Johnson 3,
St. Henry (59) — A. Reis 21, C. Shea 21, Kunstek 7, B. Shea 5, Gross 3, Helmle 2
Game Stats
3-Pointers Made: Dixie Heights 11, St. Henry 7
Free Throws: Dixie Heights 10/14, St. Henry 3/4
Fouls: Dixie Heights 13, St. Henry 11
Records: Dixie Heights 8-5, St. Henry 4-8