Six games took place at Newport High School on Saturday at the John Turner Classic starting at noon. Three of the matchups featured a Kentucky-Ohio showdown, one Kentucky-Indiana and two NKY matchups.
Here’s a brief look at them (more will be available later):
Lloyd Memorial 49, Roger Bacon (OH) 43
By Evan Dennison | LINK nky
The Juggernauts are hanging their hat on the defensive side of the floor and did so again on Saturday in their six-point victory.
Lloyd (2-1) held the Spartans to just three first quarter points and led wire-to-wire, shaking off a Friday night loss to Ryle. The switching of defenses early on led to confusion for Roger Bacon, held without a field goal in the first.
“That’s our biggest thing is trying to play different styles on defense. We like to see how other teams adjust and think fast enough. See if they adjust to man to zone and just try to mix it up a little bit,” Juggernauts coach Michael Walker said.
Jeremiah Israel led the Juggernauts with 22 points, 15 of them coming in the first half as they led 30-16 at the break. Israel’s penetration helped open things up a bit for a Lloyd team still trying to find their way offensively.
“Coming off a loss, I was trying to do whatever I could to get energy on defense or offense. Just getting guys open and finishing around the rim and getting to my shot,” Israel said. “I’m putting a lot on my shoulders, this is my fifth year here. So trying to do what I can and be more of a leader and role model to these guys.”
Isaiah Sebastian got Lloyd started in the third with a 3-pointer to make it 33-16, but were unable to make a field goal the rest of the frame as things tightened up to 36-29 by the end of three.
“We’ve got to score the ball. Get better movement, passing, there’s so many things that we still have to get better at,” Walker said. “We’ve got two starters out with injury we’re expecting back in January, just got our football guys back so we’ll keep improving.”
Duncan Crenshaw’s 3-point play to open the fourth got the lead back to double-digits, EJ Walker and company closing the door from there on the defensive end as they hung on for the six point victory.
After Israel’s 22-point output, Sebastian followed with 10, Walker with eight and Anthony Blaackar with six.
Lloyd is back in action on Tuesday when they host Newport at 7:30 p.m.
Cooper 73, Linton Stockton (IN) 61
By Luke Servello | LINK nky contributor
The Cooper Jaguars (3-2) knew they would have a tough test this afternoon against Linton Stockton and for the first half at least they got just that.
In the end they were able to outlast Linton by a score of 73-61.
Cooper started off a tad slow to start the game but picked up the defensive intensity as the quarter went on and led 18-13 at the end of quarter number one.
Point guard Yamil Rondon has been a leader all season long for Cooper and today was no different, Rondon sparked the Jaguars in quarter, keeping them in the game even at times as they took a 34-32 lead at the break on Rondon’s layup near the end of the half.
“I thought my teammates found me when I was open and I hit some shots. I thought we played pretty well. We played great team ball.” Rondon said, who finished with 23 points
and was named player of the game.
Jaguars coach Tim Sullivan was equally impressed with the sophomore’s performance.
“He wants to do whatever it takes to win and help his team. He’s been growing up and has started maturing, and he’s got a long way to go. He’s really crafty with the ball, and you know, he makes others around him better. And that’s a huge thing for him, understanding how to make other people better,” Sullivan said.
The story of this game was how Cooper came out roaring, ready to go in the third quarter. The Jaguars came out of the locker room locked in on defense, and took good quality shots as a team. They outscored Linton Stockton 21-8 in the frame and never really looked back. Linton Stockton did cut the lead to nine with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late. They were led in scoring by Logan Webb who poured in 28 points. Joey Hart added 13.
It was an impressive victory for the Jaguars, Linton ranked No. 1 in Indiana in the Class 2A AP poll. But with Sullivan’s championship pedigree, he’s nowhere satisfied yet.
“We’re still trying to figure out how to show up every day and go to practice, and have everybody all in, everybody playing for one another, trying to get the most out of every day because you don’t want to be playing great right now. It’s nice to get wins and take care of business, but we want to be playing great when we get into late February,
March time. Each day we are figuring out how to show up and do your job every day get and get a little bit better.”
Cooper hosts Sinton Kenton on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Campbell County 88, Newport Central Catholic 61
By Luke Servello | LINK nky contributor
Campbell County started the game on a 10-2 run and never really looked back, defeating Newport Central Catholic 88-61 in a game that got out of hand in a hurry.
In the first half New Cath (4-2) tried pressing in the front court, and got burned big time giving the Camels (3-2) countless easy points in transition. Newport Catholic’s offense wasn’t awful by any stretch of the imagination, but they just didn’t get enough stops to stay in the game in the 1st half, Campbell County posting 54 points on their way to a 54-33 halftime edge.
The Thoroughbreds tried a more traditional half court defense in the second half, but still found little success. They did continue to score the ball at a solid rate, but their defense continued to not support their offense.
“I thought we shared the ball really well and moved it around. Different guys stepped up on the defensive end and I thought we broke their press well. Another big thing is we got a lot of points off our defense, which was good,” Camels coach Aric Russell said.
Jake Gross was named player of the game after scoring 23 points, and Aydan Hamilton also turned in a good game providing a steady presence all around for Campbell County.
“Yeah, he’s strong. He can play inside and out. He can do a lot for us. Foul
trouble kept him a little quiet tonight, but he still had a pretty good game. He’s just a quality player for us,” Russell said of Hamilton.
Campbell County has won two in a row.
“We got to keep trusting each other as a team. Keep the defense going like it is hopefully keep improving and some other guys on the bench got to step up and give us better minutes,” Russell said.
Campbell County will play at Highlands on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
St. Xavier (OH) 51, St. Henry 27
By Evan Dennison | LINK nky
The Crusaders felt the ill-effects of a tough battle with Highlands on Friday night that carried over into Saturday’s noon matchup with the Bombers.
After dropping in a 22-8 hole in the second quarter behind a 10-0 St. Xavier run, St. Henry responded with an 8-0 run of their own to get within six.
That would be the highlight of their day, however, St. Xavier imposing their will defensively the rest of the way as they ended on a 29-11 run over the final 18:40 of the game.
A two-point third quarter did the Crusaders in, St. X extending the lead to 41-18 after three.
Jack Grayson ended the Crusaders drought with a 3-pointer at the 5:03 mark of the fourth, but by that time it was 45-21. Grayson led the Crusaders with 12 points in the contest, no one else able to muster up more than four.
St. Henry (2-4) returns to the hardwood on Friday when they take on St. Xavier (KY) at Highlands in the Carespring Holiday Classic at 6:30 p.m.
Cincinnati (Ohio) Elder 53, Conner 42
By G. Michael Graham | LINK nky contributor
The Panthers (3-0) from the Greater Catholic League South used their size to score the game’s first six points and never look back against the Cougars (2-3).
Conner especially had no answer for 6-foot-8-inch senior center Carson Browne, who made nine shots on his way to a game-high 21 points. Elder had five others score. Conner held Elder senior guard Sam Whitmer to four points after he came in averaging 14.5 in the first two games. But senior guard Zack Gutekunst and 6-7 junior forward Tyler Johnson scored nine points each.
The Cougars tried to be as balanced per usual as four players came into the game averaging double figures. But the Panthers made it more difficult to score in the paint and in transition. Senior guards Ayden Lohr and Daniel Campbell led Conner with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Senior standout guard Landen Hamilton did not start working his way back from a preseason injury. But he did score seven points and senior guard Dalton Kramer scored eight.
“We just have to make sure we’re ready to go from the start,” said Matthew Otte, Conner head coach. “I think that first stretch is a tough hole to dig out of against a team that is going to be patient offensively, move it and be disciplined. We fought hard the rest of the way. You just can’t expect a good team like that to make mistakes and bail you out. Of course, they didn’t.”
Conner plays host to 33rd District rival Cooper (3-2) on Friday at 6 p.m.
Newport 58, Scott 45
The host Wildcats (3-2) led 26-21 at halftime. But they ultimately pulled away recording 10 steals off 19 Scott turnovers while yielding six steals off eight turnovers.
The Wildcats mainly did it penetrating the lane making 27 of 56 shots for 48 percent. Newport did not make any three-pointers and only hit 4 of 12 free throws for 33 percent. But they did score 1.02 points per possession to .75 for Scott.
“We made some things happen with our quickness,” said Rodney Snapp, Newport head coach. “We have to shoot threes and free throws better. We’ve been working on taking their time and not forcing things.”
Newport had three different players score in double figures. Junior point guard Jabari Covington led the way with 17 points, seven assists and six steals in making his season debut for the Wildcats.
“We just try to slow down and not do too much on offense,” Covington said. “I get my teammates involved then score myself. We tried to pressure (the Eagles) so they couldn’t get into their sets and run their offense.”
Seven different Wildcats scored. Senior forward Marquez Miller scored 15 points and freshman forward James Turner had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
“We just have to make sure we all work hard and we’ll get the win,” Miller said. “I have to be the on-court coach and make sure everyone is in the right spot at the right times so we can win.”
Scott is playing without injured senior center Nolan Hunter. The Eagles had eight different players score with junior guard Dylan Giffen leading the way with 10 points. The Eagles shot 38 percent from the field and 21 percent from three-point range and hit 80 percent of their free throws.
“The turnovers were the difference in the game. We talked about that at halftime,” said Steve Fromeyer, Scott head coach. “Newport is going to make you pay. The positive though is we have really good kids. They’ll learn and get better.”
Scott travels to Walton-Verona (5-1) on Monday for a 7:30 p.m. game. Newport travels to Lloyd Memorial (2-1) for a Tuesday game at 7:30 p.m.
