It’s evident that Holy Cross coach Ricardo Johnson likes to attach names to different things, two of them being “roadkills,” meaning wins on the road, and “Jimmies and Joes,” the players making the plays that lead the Indians to victory.
Now 4-0 on the season, Holy Cross picked up another “roadkill” with a 59-58 win over Ryle on Tuesday night in Union, thanks to a deep triple from Luke Arlinghaus in the closing seconds.
“We got our third roadkill of the year. It’s when we are playing away from Holy Cross and we come out victorious,” Johnson said. “Then at the end of the day it is about Jimmies and Joes. Luke Arlinghaus, Brady Gabbard, Nate Rominger. A lot of guys also make plays that you might not see, but they do the little things to make sure we are successful.”
Arlinghaus, one of those “Jimmies and Joes,” led the way with 18 points. After Ryle sophomore Blake Broz drilled a corner three with 13 seconds left to give the Raiders a 58-56 lead, the Holy Cross timeout did not necessarily draw up a shot for Arlinghaus, but he got the ball and buried just the team’s second three of the night.
“We were going to Nate Rominger on a slip, and they crashed in on Nate on the pass to the corner,” Arlinghaus said. “They ran out there, and I was right there on the wing. It felt just like practice.”
Arlinghaus, along with seniors Rominger and Brady Gabbard, have been “Jimmies and Joes” for a long time. The trio combined for 42 of Holy Cross’ 59 points, with Arlinghaus scoring 18, Gabbard adding 13, and Rominger finishing with 11. Arlinghaus said the three have been playing together since “around second grade.” Ryan Bottom, another senior, contributed 10 points.
For Holy Cross, it was their closest contest of the season after winning their first three games by an average of 39 points. Ryle, meanwhile, was playing just its second game after falling to defending state semifinalist South Oldham in the opener.
The key became which team could put together the next run in a tightly contested game. Ryle led at the end of the first and third quarters, 17-15 and 49-44, which was the largest lead of the night by either team.
The Raiders got contributions from seniors and the bench. Holden Smith led with 12, while Anthony Coppola and AJ Davis added 10 apiece, and the team produced 22 points off the bench.
Despite holding the lead entering the fourth, Ryle was limited to just nine points in the final quarter, their lowest scoring frame of the night.
“I told them I wrestled with how to approach the ending of the game in the locker room because I loved our fight,” Ryle head coach Nick Dorning said. “We did not suffer from a lack of work ethic, but also made some critical mistakes down the stretch as we tried to navigate through being down a couple points to being up six to being down again in the final four minutes.”
Before Arlinghaus hit the game-winning three, the Raiders had trailed 56-52 with just over a minute to go. A Coppola three-point play and Broz’s three tied it. Just after Arlinghaus hit the three, mistakes caught up to Ryle again with an inbound turnover into the hands of Brady Gabbard.
Ryle did have one last chance, with four seconds left, but AJ Davis’ halfcourt heave went left off the backboard at the buzzer.
Holy Cross has now beaten three 33rd District teams: Conner, who was without leading scorer Finn Louden, 76-55; Cooper, 65-43; and now Ryle.
Their next matchup is an opportunity for another “roadkill” against Campbell County Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
The Raiders (0-2) will continue searching for their first win with another home game, this one against Lloyd Memorial Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
MORE PHOTOS: Provided by Charles Bolton
INDIANS 59, RAIDERS 58
HOLY CROSS — 15-16-13-15 — 59
RYLE — 17-13-19-9 — 58
Scoring
Holy Cross (59) — Arlinghaus 18, Gabbard 13, Rominger 11, Bottom 10, Henderson 5, Hunt 2
Ryle (58) — Smith 12, Coppola 10, Davis 10, Haley 9, Broz 8, Colemire 5, Nsuti 4
Game Stats
3-Pointers: Holy Cross 2, Ryle 5
Free Throws: Holy Cross 11/20, Ryle 13/23
Fouls: Holy Cross 18, Ryle 22
Records: Holy Cross 4-0, Ryle 0-2