If a couple of fans in the Newport cheering section had a dunk counter like they do strikeouts in baseball, they would have been busy Monday night at Truist Arena.
The Wildcats dunked and alley-ooped their way into the Ninth Region tournament semifinals with a 74-46 victory over Beechwood, their first regional tournament win since 2019.
The dunk counter reached seven for the contest, James Turner with four, Marquez Miller with three.
Newport was in full control from the get-go, erasing any thoughts Beechwood had of continuing their Cinderella run.
“Made the extra pass, didn’t stand around, flashed weak side. Didn’t just dribble, we wanted to be ready for anything they could throw at us. The guys did a great job of all that tonight,” Wildcats coach Rod Snapp said. “Defensively we made every shot challenged and didn’t want to allow any second-chance opportunities.”
Coming into the tournament, Newport created a buzz all season with their talented roster that brings an exciting dynamic to it with high flyers above the rim and a deadly backcourt with Taylen Kinney and Jabari Covington.
That buzz become palpable early on. Three consecutive dunks will do that, the first from Turner, the second from Miller on a one-handed throwdown, the last another Turner two-handed dunk catching a pass on the baseline for the jam.
“Just came out with a lot of energy,” Turner said. “Got a good stretch before the game and we were ready to play. Those dunks energize us a lot. It’s super exciting to see somebody dunk and everybody gets super hyped.”
The end result…a Wildcats 20-6 end of first quarter lead.
Beechwood, entering as the tournament’s Cinderella after shocking Holy Cross in the district tournament last week, just couldn’t find that magic they had in the 35th District Tournament that also included a tight loss to Covington Catholic.
They went over five minutes in the second before scoring their first points in the quarter on a Cameron Boyd layup. By that time it was 27-8.
“Newport’s really good. They’re really talented. They handled us easily the first time we played them in the All “A”, we were able to somehow get them a couple of weeks ago. So our kids came in, especially after last week really believing that we had a chance in this tournament and tonight, it was just evident from beginning we didn’t have many answers for them tonight, give them total credit,” Tigers coach Erik Goetz said.
The Wildcats would take a 33-13 lead into the break.
Newport continued to roll in the second half, another Turner dunk of an alley-oop capitalizing a 13-3 run to open up after the break as they were well on their way to the semifinals.
Beechwood showed some fight as Cash Harney got his first basket of the game in the fourth, Harney’s first game back from injury in over a month, but the Tigers would get no closer than 23 from there, effectively ending their season.
Boyd led the Tigers with 10 points, Jack Sullivan and Logan Wermuth with eight apiece.
“Cash got cleared this morning and basically had no preparation at all. He’s a special player and hopefully he has a few more trips here to come. Even though we have four seniors, we’re young as well. Those four seniors have really been accommodating and accepting of some young guys getting playing time and they’ve been tremendous leaders along the way. And Cameron Boyd, the leader of the bunch is one of the most talented basketball players to ever go through Beechwood. He’s a tremendous athlete, great baseball player. Those guys will be missed,” Goetz said.
Boyd’s 10 points moved him up to third all-time on the program’s career scoring list. Boyd closes out his career with 1,425 career points.
Newport was led by Miller’s 20 points, Jabari Covington adding 12 while Turner had 11. Taylen Kinney had a second straight game where he flirted with a triple-double, recording nine points, eight rebounds and 11 assists with no turnovers.
“Rebounds, got to get more of those,” Kinney said with a smile. “We play like that we feel like we’re the best team in the Ninth, maybe even the state. We just need to keep playing smart and as a team. We’ve matured a lot. Feels good to win one, but we’re not done yet. We’ve got two more, actually no, a couple more than that.”
The Wildcats will face Lloyd Memorial on Sunday. Newport won the first meeting between the two, 55-38 back on Dec. 13.
“Brutal. This region is so tough. Definitely doesn’t get any easier,” Snapp said.
BEECHWOOD — 6-7-11-22 — 46
NEWPORT — 20-13-24-17 — 74
Beechwood (46) – Boyd 10, Sullivan 8, Wermuth 8, Goodwin 5, Harney 4, Logue 4, Murphy 3, Kelly 2, Smith 2
Newport (74) – Miller 20, Covington 12, Turner 11, Kinney 9, Anderson 7, Amontae Lowe 5, Silverton 3, Lee 3, Adonjae Lowe 2, Nichols 2
