The final score does not indicate how tight this non-region battle stayed through two and a half quarters.
Walton-Verona and Highlands were tied at 36 in the middle of the third quarter. However, the visiting Bearcats suddenly caught fire going on an 11-0 run to go up 55-39 entering the fourth quarter and pulling away for an 88-62 victory over the Bluebirds in the Carespring Holiday Classic in Fort Thomas on Friday.
Walton-Verona (7-3) did a better job executing in a battle of teams that like to pressure the ball the entire game trying to create turnovers and easy transition scores. The Bearcats made 16 three-pointers including 10 in the second half.
“We had our best third quarter that we’ve had all year,” Walton-Verona head coach Mike Hester said. “Normally in the third we struggle to score, but (Friday) we were able to make some shots. We got some open looks, got a lot of paint touches. Getting those paint touches, inside-out threes are a good thing for us.”
Walton-Verona’s leading scorer in junior Aaron Gutman led the Bearcats (7-3) with 27 points making three 3-pointers, but he also made life difficult for the Bluebirds in the paint. Gutman’s 6-foot-5 frame made Highlands shoot some off-balanced shots and Gutman or teammates collected the rebounds.
“That works our real well for us because most high school kids can’t finish through contact, can’t go around or through people,” Gutman said. “(Highlands senior Nathan) Vinson did a real good job going over us a lot. He’s strong, physical, athletic. Their other guys couldn’t do the same thing and I think that’s why we separated. We forced other guys to do stuff they’re not used to doing.”
Walton-Verona entered the game averaging 7.2 three-pointers made per contest. Nine different Bearcats scored and eight hit at least one three-pointer.
Senior Julian Dixon recently scored his 1,000th career point and continued his stellar play with 19 points and Max Montgomery made four 3-pointers on his way to 13 points. Landon Bach nearly hit double figures scoring nine points.
Walton-Verona often made the extra pass for wide-open shots.
“We started off real cold for a while,” Montgomery said. “We just kept doing what we do, kept our heads up. The main thing is stay together as a team. Once someone makes one, they all seem to fall for everyone.”
The Bearcats focused their defensive efforts primarily on Highlands’ two leading scorers in Brayden Moeves and Nathan Vinson, who came in averaging 20.5 and 18.4 points, respectively. Walton-Verona limited Vinson to 11 points and Moeves to eight.
Vinny Listerman tried to pick up some of the scoring slack with nine points for Highlands (5-4). Sophomore Brady Carnohan scored all nine of his points in the fourth quarter as the reserves played the fourth quarter.
“We just didn’t compete at the level that we’re capable of and that’s the bottom line,” Highlands head coach Kevin Listerman said. “They made a run and we didn’t answer. That’s something that we have to figure out. Total credit to Walton-Verona. They were a little more hungrier and played with more energy than we did. That’s happened to us a couple times this year. Hopefully we’ve learned our lesson or we’re going to keep living through it.”
Walton-Verona led most of the game. The Bearcats led 12-10 after the first quarter and 23-21 at halftime. Their largest lead in the first half was six points.
Both teams play another game in the Carespring Holiday Classic on Saturday. Walton-Verona takes on the Cincinnati (Ohio) TrailBlazers Home School team at 2 p.m. and Highlands plays Ashland Blazer at 3:45 p.m.
BEARCATS 88, BLUEBIRDS 62
WALTON-VERONA — 12-19-24-33 — 88
HIGHLANDS — 10-17-12-23 — 62
Scoring
Walton-Verona (88) — Aaron Gutman 27, Dixon 19, Montgomery 13, Bach 9, Smith 6, Adam Gutman 6, Webster 3, Hester 3, Dryden 2
Highlands (62) — Vinson 11, Listerman 9, Caronhan 9, Moeves 8, Bouldin 6, Shick 4, Wallace 3, Hicks 3, Yelton 3, Messmer 2, Gregory 2, Rickard 2
Game Stats
3-Pointers Made: Walton-Verona 16, Highlands 6
Free Throws: Walton-Verona 8/16, Highlands 10/14
Fouls: Walton-Verona 12, Highlands 13
Records: Walton-Verona 7-3, Highlands 5-4