After two regular season meetings between Beechwood and Holy Cross boys basketball teams were decided by a combined seven points, the third was shaping up to be a dandy…and it didn’t disappoint.
In a low scoring affair, Beechwood clawed back for the 40-36 victory over the
Indians and are headed to their second straight 35th district championship.
Early on, it looked like Holy Cross had full control, starting the game on a 12-2 run.
“We knew we were going to come out nervous,” Beechwood head coach Ross Hart
said. “I told them that they were going to have to play through their nerves the first
couple of minutes. Did we plan to go down double-digits? No, but we knew there
wasn’t a ten-point shot and that it was going to be a grind the rest of the way.”
The Indians led all the way until the two and half mark in the fourth quarter. With
the game tied at 32-apiece, Beechwood’s Carson Blackburn scored two of his 11
points off a putback to give the Tigers the lead.
Trailing 32-28, Beechwood closed the game out on a 12-4 run, including some clutch free throws from Jack Sullivan who also had 11 points.
“Jack Sullivan and Carson Blackburn have been two of our best players all year,” Hart
said. “Even though the percentages weren’t very good tonight, we knew those were
the guys we wanted to ride down the stretch, and they responded.”
Freshman Tyler Fryman also made his mark with 10 points.
Holy Cross led 15-6 at the end of the first quarter and 24-16 at halftime. It wasn’t
necessarily scoring that helped them, it was their offensive rebounding.
Beechwood adjusted at halftime and came out to cut the score to 28-24 after three,
holding the Indians to just four points in the frame.
“Our kids really responded in the second half, defensively and on the glass.” Hart
said, “We started Austin Navin in the half and he controlled the boards. I thought the first half offensive rebounding really hurt us and I thought he really neutralized
that for the second half.”
In the final 16 minutes, Holy Cross went 0/8 from the three-point line and shot 22%
from the field. The Tigers took advantage and did just enough to pull out the win.
Not only is it the second straight district championship appearance for Beechwood,
but it’s the first for coach Ross Hart.
“It means the world to me that our administrators at Beechwood trust me to run the
program.” Hart said, “As a Beechwood graduate and former player, I knew from the
day I graduated I wanted to come back and be the head coach. I was fortunate they
hired me this year and to be able to coach such a talented bunch of kids that work
their tails off every day in practice. I couldn’t be prouder.”
Holy Cross’s first season under Ricardo Johnson ends with a record of 16-13. Sophomore Brady Gabbard came off the bench to lead the team in scoring with 10 points. Will McElheney added nine. Luke Arlinghaus played his second game since returning from an injury suffered on Feb. 6, finishing with five points. The Indians graduate one starter, but return four starters, two sophomores and two juniors.
Up next for Beechwood? A rematch from last season’s district championship against
Covington Catholic, Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
TIGERS 40, INDIANS 36
BEECHWOOD — 6-10-8-16 — 40
HOLY CROSS — 15-9-4-8 — 36
Scoring
Beechwood (40) — Blackburn 11, Sullivan 11, Fryman 10, McCormack 3, Navin 3, Brockett 2
Holy Cross (36) — Gabbard 10, McElheney 9, Rominger 8, Arlinghaus 5, Reinersman 4
Game Stats
Field Goals: Beechwood 13/38, Holy Cross 13/40
3-Pointers: Beechwood 3/14, Holy Cross 4/21
Free Throws: Beechwood 11/19, Holy Cross 6/12
Rebounds: Beechwood 24, Holy Cross 30
Assists: Beechwood 5, Holy Cross 8
Turnovers: Beechwood 5, Holy Cross 10
Steals: Beechwood 5, Holy Cross 3
Blocks: Beechwood 2, Holy Cross 2
Fouls: Beechwood 13, Holy Cross 17
Records: Beechwood 16-14, Holy Cross 16-13
Covington Catholic 83, Holmes 33
Despite leading scorer Caden Miller not playing, CovCath blew past Holmes for the
win and a spot in the 35th district championship for the 15th season in a row.
It wasn’t until the second quarter when the lead started to grow for the Colonels.
Leading 22-13 at the end of the first quarter, they outscored the Bulldogs 30-10 in the
second for a 52-23 lead at the break.
CovCath turned things up a notch defensively in the second half, holding Holmes to 10 points. Only three players made it in the scoring column for Holmes. Sophomore Mark McCutchin led the Bulldogs with 20 points, Jamari Lockett had 11 and Cahlil Johnson added on two.
The Colonels used a team effort on offense in their 24th victory of the season. Cash
Harney led with 17 points and eight assists, Athens McGillis had 14, Brady Hussey
had 12 and Nolan Ruthsatz had 10. Ten players scored for CovCath. They also hit
eight triples.
On the glass, Holmes was outrebounded 45-20, Donovan Bradshaw leading in that
category with eight total rebounds.
Holmes season comes to a close with an overall record of 2-22 and losing just one
player to graduation.
