For a while Tuesday, if Conner wasn’t knocking down 3-pointers from seemingly somewhere near Ritte’s Corner, the Cougars were hitting field goals while slipping and falling.
Whether far or near, most of Conner’s shots went in against Holy Cross. That and a 17-3 first-quarter run led to a happy trip on Interstate 275 – an 82-62 win at the Thomas B. Finn Activity Center.
Conner (8-4) made 28-of-55 shots, including 15 of 26 3-pointers. A quartet of scorers were responsible: Ayden Lohr with 23 points, Dalton Kramer with 22, Landen Hamilton with 20, and Daniel Campbell with 10.
“It’s nice when that happens,” Conner coach Matthew Otte said of the 3-pointers. “We can’t get too happy with it (and) hope that it happens all the time. We’ve got to keep working, but we were open, and we made ‘em.”
With 5 of 8 3-pointers, Lohr was the leading marksman.
“As a team, when we shoot it well, we play well,” Lohr said.
Holy Cross (7-5) has possibly the most prolific scorer not in the state statistical records. Senior guard Jacob Meyer (who has college offers from Marshall, Indiana State, James Madison, Eastern Kentucky, Bowling Green State and Ball State are the contenders), averages about 35 points a game, some three points more than Bracken County’s Blake Reed.
Tuesday, Meyer had 28. Problem for the Indians was, Javier Ward’s 11 points was the only other double-figure total.
For a little less than 90 seconds Tuesday, Holy Cross was stronger. Meyer’s field goal and free throw, Ward’s steal and layup and Meyer’s two freebies was good for a 7-0 lead.
It wasn’t long before Conner started scoring from distance. Kramer’s two (he made 5-of-6 for the game) and one from Hamilton (4-of-7) tied things at 11-all.
After Meyer’s 3, the Cougars effectively ended the suspense.
There were long, far buckets (Lohr and Hamilton), Campbell’s two free throws, and 3-pointers from Lohr and Kramer. The result: Conner, 28-14, after one quarter.
“We’ve ran into those situations several times,” Holy Cross coach Casey Sorrell said.
Holy Cross, meanwhile, didn’t score again until Ward’s driving, spinning layup a little less than two minutes into the second stanza, and they were never closer than 34-24 with 3:28 before halftime.
Things were going so well for Conner, a shot that shouldn’t have gone in – went in. With six seconds to go, Kramer stopped near the 3-point arc, slipped backward and nevertheless knocked down the 19-footer.