PARK HILLS — It wasn’t done on purpose, but it just so happened Covington Catholic’s new look basketball team that features speed and quickness over size would face two near seven-footers to open up the season.
The Colonels passed both tests, doing so convincingly in both, this time a 75-60 victory over Great Crossing Thursday night in Park Hills.
In a matchup of two preseason top 10 teams in the state, the Warhawks featuring three players with Division I offers, it was the Colonels Evan Ipsaro who dazzled. Ipsaro, the Miami (Ohio) signee poured in 32 points, also dishing out eight assists as the Colonels drained 10 3-pointers on the evening in the win.
“You put the ball in his hands and he makes us look good as coaches. Just over the years his development, he’s been playing with these guys for three years and he knows who can do what and he’s much more comfortable kicking it and hitting guys for open shots,” Colonels coach Scott Ruthsatz said.
But the big challenge was the Warhawks Malachi Moreno. Moreno blew up this summer and picked up over a dozen Division I offers, his seven-foot frame and skillset a big reason for him blossoming into one of the top prospects in Kentucky. But after facing seven-foot-two Gabe Dynes on Tuesday in a win over Simon Kenton, the Colonels were prepared for the challenge, holding the Warhawks massive size advantage to just seven second-chance points.
“It’s ironic Tuesday night we had a 7-foot-2, and I think preparing for that definitely helped us. What Great Crossing brought was more size and we just had to be physical. That’s the only thing that we can be is physical, we’re not going to outjump them, got to be strategic about box outs and have to have the guards come down and help,” Ruthsatz said.
It was an all out team effort to deny the Warhawks in the paint, led by Aiden Jones drawing the Moreno assignment first. Front, deny, double, behind, the Colonels were ready for the challenge and didn’t make anything easy in the paint, the Warhawks held to 43 percent shooting in the contest as they dropped to 1-1 on the year.
Ipsaro started to take the game over midway through the first, 11 straight points giving the Colonels a 15-11 lead. He’d assist on a 3-pointer to Kascyl McGillis to end the first and a 18-12 Colonels advantage.
Cov Cath’s bench got into the flow of things in the second, Noah Johnson scoring five, Ayden Link scoring four while starter Brady Hussey scored eight of his 11 points in the quarter, the Colonels taking a 37-29 lead into the break.
Ipsaro picked up where he left off with a jumper to start the second half and then a sequence of five straight points ending with an and-one layup helped the Colonels start to pull away with a 62-45 edge late into the third, a 30-point quarter for the Colonels.
Ipsaro would score all eight of the Colonels points in the fourth, Great Crossing unable to get any closer than 14 in the final frame.
“He’s been a gamer since he stepped on campus two years ago. Big games he shows up. When the game counts he steps up his game and gives everything he can in order to give us a win. You saw that last year in the state tournament,” Ruthsatz said.
The Warhawks were led by Moreno’s 18 points, Vince Dawson adding 12, DeJohn Blunt with 10. Great Crossing coach Steve Page knew this would be a tough test for his team, but glad they made the trip up I-75 for the challenge.
“Smart team, hard to trap them and they move so well. We wanted to play this game because hopefully it will make us better. You either win or you learn right? So hopefully we learned something tonight,” Page said.
COLONELS 75, WARHAWKS 60
GREAT CROSSING — 12-17-20-11 — 60
COVINGTON CATHOLIC — 18-19-30-8 — 75
Scoring
GREAT CROSSING (60) — Moreno 18, Dawson 12, Blunt 10, Godfrey 6, Richardson 6, Burrell 6, Martin 2
COVINGTON CATHOLIC (75) — Ipsaro 32, Hussey 11, Link 9, A. Jones 6, Stewart 6, Johnson 5, K. McGillis 3, Detzel 3
Game Stats
Field Goals: GC 20/46, CC 27/52
3-Pointers: GC 4/13, CC 10/22
Free Throws: GC 16/21, CC 11/13
Rebounds: GC 30, CC 26
Assists: GC 9, CC 13
Turnovers: GC 13, CC 13
Records: Great Crossing 1-1, Covington Catholic 2-0