The only thing that mattered Saturday was who took care of business on the hardwood at the BB&T Arena on the campus of Northern Kentucky University.
The teams had a week to prepare for their respective opponents. Similar to the first session in the afternoon, the District 34 and 35 opponents took care of their opponents from the 36th and 33rd Districts to move on to the semifinals on Sunday. The second one at 8 p.m. will put the 34th District champion Dixie Heights red Colonels (21-6 overall) against the Holy Cross Indians (21-9) from the 35th District.
Dixie Heights 51, Newport 37:
The Colonels controlled the paint better in the win over the Wildcats (9-19). Dixie Heights won the rebounding battle, 28-18 recording 12 second-chance points to three for Newport. Dixie Heights is back in the region semifinals for the second year in a row.
“We knew it was going to be a challenge. We knew it was going to be a grind,” said Roddy Stainforth, Dixie Heights Head Coach. “We knew Newport was going to slow it down a bit. While they’re record might be what it is, they have athletes and they have a couple kids that fill it up. They play a tough schedule and they lost some close games. They played Cooper close and they had the lead on Highlands in the second half so we were not looking past them. We respected them as an opponent.”
That started with their two leading scorers in the middle. Senior forwards Keirnan Geraci and 6-foot-6-inch Billy Wogenstahl recorded double-doubles of 16 and 11 rebounds each. Wogenstahl also blocked two shots.
“Those are very important aspects of the game,” Wogenstahl said. “It was tough going down their against their bigs. You just had to outjump them to outrebound them. You try to grab them at the highest point you can get. You just have to read the ball.”
Senior guard Logan Landers added 11 points for Dixie Heights. He made 5 of 7 shots.
Neither team turned the ball over a lot. Newport had seven turnovers to five for Dixie Heights. The Colonels had five steals leading to six points off turnovers and the Wildcats had no points off turnovers on two steals.
“If you protect the basketball and you rebound, you have a chance to win in the postseason,” Stainforth said. “I thought we rebounded it much better and I thought we protected the basketball. We’re happy with that.”
Dixie Heights had 27 defensive stops to 17 for Newport. The Colonels had 1.21 points per possession and 1.16 points per shot to .86 and .88 for the Wildcats.
“I knew Dixie would be tough. (The Colonels) are well-oiled machine,” said Rod Snapp, Newport Head Coach. “They run their stuff. They make all your shots challenging. We’re sprinkled in with a lot of young guys. I’m talking eighth graders. In the 9th Region, that’s tough. You don’t see that too often not that I can remember.”
Dixie Heights made 21 of 38 shots for 55 percent and none of its five three-point tries. But the Colonels did made 9 of 13 free throws for 69 percent to go with nine fouls, seven assists and three blocked shots. Geraci and senior Jay Flynn had two assists each.
Newport stayed in the game shooting the ball outside better. The Wildcats made 11 of 36 shots for 31 percent including 6 of 21 from three-point land for 29 percent and 9 of 12 free throws for 75 percent to go with 15 fouls, nine assist and three blocked shots.
The two leading scorers led the way for Newport. Senior forward Evan Snapp made four three-pointers on his way to 12 points and junior forward Marquez Miller made 5 of 8 free throws on his way to 11 points. Miller had four assists and eighth grade wing James Turner had three blocked shots.
The teams battled back and forth in the first quarter with six lead changes. But Wogenstahl found Landers for a lay-up on the right side to put Dixie Heights up for good at 8-7.
The Colonels opened the second quarter with a 6-0 run forcing Newport to call a time-out. Wogenstahl scored twice including an offensive rebound and sophomore Hudson Blank had a lay-up on the right side.
Turner made a three from the left corner to end the Newport scoring drought. The Colonels had their biggest lead of the quarter with 2:10 left when Blank hit a jumper.
Then after Evan Snapp hit a three from the left wing for Newport, Geraci scored in the center of the paint as time expired. Dixie Heights led 22-15 at halftime.
Dixie Heights expanded its led to 13 twice in the third quarter. The second one came with 1:12 left in the quarter when Wogenstahl had an offensive put-back. Miller made two free throws with 56.9 seconds left. The Colonels led 38-27 entering the fourth quarter.
“You just have to keep wanting it and never get complacent,” Landers said of playing with a lead. “I just trust my teammates, trust my coaches. I know we come through when it matters.”
The Wildcats did trim the lead to six at 43-37 with 2:10 left in the game following two Miller free throws. But the Colonels made 8 of 10 free throws after that point to thwart any Wildcat comeback hopes.
“If we don’t make the free throws, then it gets a lot more nerve-racking and tense,” Stainforth said. “When you make the free throws, it takes the pressure off what you have to do.”
Newport graduates five seniors from the team. They are Evan Snapp, guard Ethan Jefferson, forward Robert Sanders, center Christian Smith, and forward/guard Kaleb Thompson.
“They just never could catch some breaks. They never really could get healthy throughout the year,” Coach Snapp said. “I think we had one kid played healthy all year because of injuries, concussions and things like that. Our seniors were really good kids. They were very coachable. I have three of them that are two, three-sport guys. It is a small school and that’s the way it is. You have to share athletes and that makes it kind of tough.”
Dixie Heights and Newport played back on Dec. 14 in Edgewood. The Colonels won 65-37.
Holy Cross 80, Conner 74:
Holy Cross (21-9) tied two 9th Region Tournament records making the region semifinals for the first time since 2018.
Holy Cross junior guard Jacob Meyer scored 41 points to tie a region tournament game record and junior guard Javier Ward tied a region tournament game record with seven made three-pointers on his way to 27 points. The duo scored 85 percent of the points for the Indians.
“I call them Batman and Robin,” said Casey Sorrell, Holy Cross Head Coach. “They’re really good at playing off each other in the two-man game. A lot of the chemistry they have starts with Jake because he’s able to get downhill and he attracts so much attention. Give Javy credit for stepping up and knocking them down. They’re a great one-two punch.”
Meyer came into the game with 1,028 points on the season averaging 38.1. Ward came in averaging 17.5.
“It’s all on my teammates,” Meyer said. “I trust them. They trust me and that’s what happened. It’s good we have two viable scorers. We trust Javy to make big shots.”
The Indians needed every one of those points to hold off the Cougars (20-10). Holy Cross built two 19-point leads in the middle of the third quarter. But the Cougars came back and tied it three times in the fourth quarter.
The last time came with 3:41 left in the game when senior guard Alex Castrucci made two free throws. But Meyer had an offensive put-back with 2:40 left to put the Indians up for good. His three-point play put Holy Cross up 72-67 with 2:09 remaining. Following a free throw from Holy Cross senior forward Cade Lehmkuhl, the Cougars cut the lead to 73-70 when junior guard Dalton Kramer hit a three from the left corner with 1:32 reamaining.
But Holy Cross hit 7 of 8 free throws in the game’s final minute to hold and win the game. Meyer made all six free throws during that time.
Holy Cross made 27 of 54 shots overall for 50 percent including 11 of 24 from three-point range for 46 percent and 15 of 21 free throws for 71 percent. The Indians also had 14 fouls, 12 assists and six blocked shots. Meyer had seven assists.
The Cougars had nine turnovers and six steals while the Indians had 11 turnovers and five steals. But Holy Cross had 17 points off those turnovers to 12 for the Cougars.
They may not have scored. But other Holy Cross players made plays to aid the cause. Both teams recorded 33 rebounds. Senior forward Dylan Arlinghaus had nine and Lehmkuhl had eight. The Indians had 1.27 pointe per possession and 1.25 points per shot to 1.17 and 1.07 respectively.
“It was definitely a vital team effort to get rebounds and limit their put-backs,” Arlinghaus said. “That definitely helped us win the game. Everyone puts things in to help us win.”
Holy Cross junior 7-foot center Sam Gibson made things difficult in the lane against a Conner team that loves to attack the rim and make things happen. Gibson had six rebounds and blocked six shots.
“I thought Sam (Gibson), especially in the first half, completely dominated the game as far as blocking shots then finishing possessions for us with rebounds,” Sorrell said. “That was game-changing to have him. He has long, lengthy arms. He’s a tough guy to score over. It forced them to rely on the outside shot, which is something we wanted.”
Conner displayed its usual scoring balance. Castrucci scored 18 and junior guard Dalton Kramer spurred the comeback attempt making three three-pointers on his way to 17 points. Junior guards Ayden Lohr and Daniel Campbell scored 16 and 14 respectively.
Conner made 28 of 61 shots for 46 percent including 6 of 18 from three-point range for 33 percent and 12 of 16 free throws for 75 percent. The Cougars also had 15 fouls, 12 assists and four blocked shots. Senior forward Landen Cook blocked four shots for the Cougars.
Holy Cross finished the first quarter with a 10-0 run to go up 26-10. The Indians led by 16 with 2:16 left in the first half after a Ward triple at 37-21. But the Cougars trimmed it to 12 at 40-28 at halftime after Kramer recorded a steal and found junior guard Landen Hamilton for the score with 10 seconds left.
Holy Cross led 57-38 with 3:05 left in the third quarter after a Meyer jumper. But Kramer made two threes and Lohr hit another one with 55 seconds left in the quarter. A Castrucci jumper with 30.4 seconds left in the quarter cut the Holy Cross lead to 61-51 entering the fourth quarter. Lohr made another triple with 4:40 left in the game to tie it at 63. But he Cougars could never take the lead.
“I think if we would have started better, that would have been helpful,” said Matthew Otte, Conner Head Coach. “We told them getting off to a good start can help carry out a little bit. We did the opposite (Saturday). But we continued to battle and show the toughness and character these kids have. But we used all that energy at some point and couldn’t make the plays and (the Indians) could down the stretch.”
Conner graduates three seniors from the team. They are Castrucci, Cook and guard Hunter Hammond.
“They’ve been great since they got in as freshmen,” Otte said. “They were tasked with replacing a lot from last year and they did it not necessarily with the points and things that some of the other guys last year provided. But they did it with their leadership and their accepting of things that we asked them to do. They knew they were doing it for the good of the team and I couldn’t ask for anything more from those three.”
The two teams met during the regular season in Hebron. Conner won 71-69.
9th Region Boys Basketball Tournament at BB&T Arena at NKU:
Saturday, March 5 Quarterfinals:
Lloyd Memorial 75, Highlands 64
Covington Catholic 49, Cooper 37
Dixie Heights 51, Newport 37
Holy Cross 80, Conner 74
Sunday, March 6 Semifinals:
Covington Catholic (26-4) vs. Lloyd Memorial (22-7), 6:30 p.m.
Dixie Heights (21-6) vs. Holy Cross (21-9), 8 p.m.
Tuesday, March 8 Title Game:
Semifinal Winners, 7 p.m.
