In the season opener for both teams, Covington Catholic bested Simon Kenton in
Park Hills, 57-38.
As they still await their football players, Colonels transfer Caden Miller helped carry the load with 18 points and 17 rebounds that included a handful of thunderous dunks. The 6-foot-9 transfer from Arkansas has arrived.
“Caden around the rim is a special talent. You throw it up to him and it makes the
guards job a lot easier,” Ruthsatz said. “You can just throw it up to the backboard and see what happens. We tried to speed the game up a bit and that opened up some
opportunities for him.”
As a season opener, some sloppiness followed. The two teams combined for 44 turnovers and shot a combined 38-for-90 from the field.
The Colonels pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Pioneers 31-17 in the game’s final 16 minutes to earn the victory.
“We had some good moments early on then we had some bad moments. We turned
the ball over way too much in the first half. I know we all love to hit Caden in the
middle, because he can do great things, but we were really forcing it,” Colonels head
coach Scott Ruthsatz said. “I thought in the second half, we settled down a little bit,
but overall, we’ve got to do a much better job of moving the ball, moving without the
ball, and cutting harder.”
Even with the slow start, Covington Catholic ended up dominating in many areas of
the game. They outrebounded Simon Kenton, 38-17. Miller matched the Pioneers total on the boards.
Athens McGillis added on 17 points and Brady Hussey tacked on 10 more.
“We’re still a little rusty offensively,” Ruthsatz said. “We still have to find their rhythm, find our roles and define them a little bit better, but once we do that, we’re gonna be alright. I love having the three able to score, but we have to have some other player’s score. We
gotta have some other guys make shots.”
Simon Kenton was also shorthanded. Travis Krohman, a Thomas More commit who averaged a team-high 15.7 points last season, did not play due
to an injury.
The Pioneers stuck around early however, down 15-13 at the end of the first quarter and 26-21 at the half.
The bright spot for Simon Kenton was Jay Bilton. Bilton stepped up and led the team
in scoring with 14 points.
Once the Colonels’ defense picked up, the Pioneers struggled to get good shots. They
went 7-18 from the field and 33% from three in the final 16 minutes to go along with
22 turnovers.
Simon Kenton lost their ninth straight to the Colonels. Their next opponent is Dixie Heights in a home opener for the Pioneers on Friday.
CovCath starts the season off on the right foot but has a busy week ahead. They return to action on Tuesday taking on Western Heights College out of Geelong, Australia. They follow that with a matchup at Great Crossing on Thursday, one of the top ranked teams in the state preseason.
COLONELS 57, PIONEERS 38
SIMON KENTON — 13-8-11-6 — 57
COVINGTON CATHOLIC — 15-11-18-13 — 38
Scoring
SIMON KENTON (38) — Bilton 14, Bach 8, Taylor 4, Marx 3, Polly 3, Brown 2, Ober 2,
Stone 2
COVINGTON CATHOLIC (57) — Miller 19, McGillis 17, Hussey 10, Wermuth 4, Carroll 3, Lanham 2, Stewart 2
Game Stats
Field Goals: SK 14/38, CC 24/52
3-Pointers: SK 5/11, CC 2/12
Free Throws: SK 5/6, CC 7/11
Rebounds: SK 17, CC 38
Assists: SK 4, CC 10
Turnovers: SK 22, CC 22
Records: Simon Kenton 0-1, Covington Catholic 1-0