It was the tale of two teams who were region contenders not super long ago.
But in this 9th Region battle, the Holmes Bulldogs ventured to Florence facing the Boone County Rebels in a battle of two teams seeking their second wins of the season. The Rebels (2-16) took control of the game in the second quarter pulling away for a 75-52 win over the Bulldogs (1-18) on Senior Night.
The loss snapped an 11-game losing streak for Boone County. The last Rebel win came Dec. 16 at home against the Ryle Raiders, 74-50 in 33rd District seed play.
“We definitely started slow. We wanted to come out and get a fast start,” said Nathan Browning, Boone County head coach. “But we put some guys in and kind of turned things around quick. Guys have been working really hard. We’ve played a tough schedule. We just can’t get over the hump and get the wins. We’re right there. We put forth more effort in the second, third, fourth quarters. That was the difference in the game.”
Boone County honored its four seniors in Will Raleigh, Elhadj Cisse, Yusuf Abuukar and Robert Butler before the game in addition to the senior cheerleaders and the senior dance team members at halftime. The four even started the game and Raleigh scored 13 as one of four Rebels to reach double figures.
“We wanted all the seniors to score on Senior Night and have a memorable night,” Raleigh said. “We only get one Senior Night so it was real nice to see everyone go out and play. We’ve been playing well. Our record doesn’t really show how good we are. We’ve just lost a lot of close games. If we keep playing like that, limit turnovers and keep finishing, we can keep this momentum going into the district tournament.”
Holmes built an 18-10 lead with 13.2 seconds left in the first, prompting a spirited Boone County timeout. The Rebels responded with junior guard Thomas Williams making a three from the top of the key to trim that lead to 18-13 after one quarter.
But in the second quarter, the Rebels applied pressure all over the court at different spots including some traps in the corners. Some steals in the open court led to fast break scores. They took the lead for good with an 11-2 run led by five points from Williams to go up 30-22 with 3:12 left in the half. After Holmes scored to make it 30-24, the Rebels scored 10 straight and led 43-27 at halftime. Junior guard Elijah Bodkin scored seven points during that run.
“We were able to speed them up and turn them over,” Browning said. “We were trying to slow down their transition game. They’re pretty good in transition. We felt picking them up in full-court would give us a better chance to win the game. Our guys went out and did a really good job of executing, getting hands in the passing lanes and deflecting them. That’s kind of where we made our living in the second, third and fourth quarters.”
Holmes trimmed the lead to 43-30 less than a minute into the second half when senior Adam Boone made a three from the right wing. But the Bulldogs came no closer after that. Boone County’s largest lead came in the fourth quarter at 27 points twice.
Williams led the Rebels with 20, making three triples in the second quarter and Bodkin finished with 11 with junior guard/small forward Mason Hall scoring 10. But post Maddox Jones made a difference in the paint scoring nine points to go with key rebounds and blocked shots. The Rebels made seven three-pointers.
“When the game started out, it was lay-up after lay-up (for Holmes) so when I came out, I knew I had to lock the paint down and keep them from scoring in the paint,” Jones said. “I just hope that we keep playing unselfish. Hitting threes was a big thing.”
The Bulldogs hoped to win a second game in two days after earning their first win Monday in a 66-62 victory at Dayton. Holmes had one player reach double-digits as senior post Demarcus Winn scored 13 points, including nine in the second half.
Boone County plays host to Williamstown on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Holmes plays at St. Henry on Friday at 6 p.m.
Boys Basketball
Covington Catholic 85, Campbell County 82 (OT)
Campbell County led by 10 entering the fourth, but the visiting Colonels (19-2) rallied to down the Camels (14-10) in Alexandria.
Senior guard Evan Ipsaro led the way with a double-double of 32 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Junior guard Brady Hussey and senior guard Kascyl McGillis followed with 26 and 12 points, respectively, Hussey hitting 5-of-8 from 3-point land.
Camels senior forward Aydan Hamilton became the second player in Campbell County history to surpass 2,000 points for his career, scoring 29 to go with eight rebounds.
Three other Camels hit double figures. Senior guard Jake Gross and sophomore guard Garyn Jackson scored 16 each with junior power forward Connor Weinel scoring 10.
Campbell County travels to Franklin County (Indiana) on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. game. CovCath plays host to Louisville DeSales on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Other Boys Basketball Scores
Dixie Heights 67, Villa Madonna 39
Mason County 88, Walton-Verona 75
Newport Central Catholic 71, Beechwood 61
Lloyd Memorial 67, Simon Kenton 55
Girls Basketball
Cooper 63, Highlands 45
The Jaguars (18-3) stayed undefeated in 9th Region play with a convincing road win against the Bluebirds (16-8). Cooper is 6-0 in region play.
Cooper put three players in double figures. Senior forward Whitney Lind scored 19 points including 17 in the first half. Junior guard Liz Freihofer and junior forward Logan Palmer scored 16 and 12 respectively.
Highlands fell to 6-5 in region play. Sophomore center Marissa Green scored 12 points and freshman guard Saylor Macke added 11.
Cooper travels to Simon Kenton on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. game. Highlands plays at Boone County on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Other Girls Basketball Scores
Dixie Heights 69, Ludlow 42