Something Ryle doesn’t do under Katie Haitz?
Lose in the first round of the 9th Region girls basketball tournament.
Haitz improved to 8-0 in region quarterfinal games in her tenure with the Raiders as they took down Dixie Heights 51-30 on Sunday afternoon at Truist Arena on the campus of Northern Kentucky University.
“Our schedule prepares us for this,” Haitz said. “My staff is amazing. They help me make great decisions about things and I credit Nell Fookes and Cheryl Darpel. I have had people that have been in my life, successful women in this position and know what to do and helped get to this point. We prepare the girls for these situations and groom them for it and it’s a great thing to have.”
Jaelyn Jones sharpshooting from deep helped Ryle separate in the third quarter as they outscored the Colonels 22-9 in the frame. Jones hit four treys in the quarter and Ryle turned a 21-11 lead into a 43-20 advantage. The sophomore who’s drawing Division I interest, even getting a chat with an NKU assistant after the game finished with 21 points and drained five triples.
“My teammates just knew when you’re hot you got to find the hot hand. They did a good job of finding me and getting me the ball,” Jones said. ” I like shooting here. The big floor makes it more quiet, not as loud and easier to shoot.”
Quinn Eubank, Sarah Baker and Kassidy Peters provided the rest of the scoring, Eubank and Baker finishing with 12 points, Peters with six. Eubank added 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots while Baker pulled down seven rebounds.
Experience matters, a Ryle team that’s made deep runs with some of the nucleus they have and some additional pieces added in.
“If we have the opportunity to when they’re young we try to get them in here and understand what it takes to prepare and get ready for these moments,” Haitz said.
For Dixie Heights, despite being here in the region tournament for the 13th straight season, had a lot of new pieces and faces on this year’s team as they had to overcome a ton of injuries throughout the season.
The inexperience showed as they finished 9-of-46 from the field. Jayden McClain had a big part of that, the Raiders seventh grader coming in off the bench and blocking five shots in 16 minutes of action.
“Majority of this group, a lot of them this was the first time being on this floor. We certainly struggled from just a shooting percentage,” Dixie Heights coach Joel Steczynski said. “We struggled inside, we struggled outside. Obviously, their length inside really took a toll on us and certainly adjusted a lot of our shots, or at least some of our shots. Just couldn’t take advantage of the offensive part of the game today.”
Dixie’s defense had them in it early as they were able to force 14 Ryle turnovers in the contest, trailing 10-7 after one and 17-11 with 2:50 left before the half. Jalynn Brooks was the lone Dixie scorer in the first, the first points not coming elsewhere until the 5:54 mark of the second on a Catherine Buddenberg free throw. Bella Crawford added a triple in the first half to get them within six.
From there, it was pretty much all Ryle, the trio of Jones, Eubank and Baker helping them pull away.
The Raiders advance to Friday’s semifinals to take on Highlands at 6:30 p.m. back at NKU. They’re in search of their seventh regional final appearance in the last nine years.
Dixie Heights was led by Brooks’ nine points and Buddenberg with seven. The Colonels finished 18-13, going 13-5 in the second half of the season. They graduate just three seniors in Brooks, Abby Thelen and Avery Moore.
“It was a very challenging year just from a health standpoint,” Steczynski said. “An incredible amount of variation in our lineups. In the end, we put some games together. We were down two kids for pretty much all the year we were counting on being big contributors. Just one of those things where it didn’t pan out here in the region. We’re very hopeful with this group we got coming back.”
RAIDERS 51, COLONELS 30
RYLE — 10-11-22-8 — 51
DIXIE HEIGHTS — 7-4-9-10 — 30
Scoring
Ryle (51) — Jones 21, Eubank 12, Baker 12, Peters 6
Dixie Heights (30) — Brooks 9, Buddenberg 7, Crawford 5, Moore 4, Tignor 3, Puitz 2
Game Stats
Field Goals: Ryle 21/41, Dixie Heights 9/46
3-Pointers: Ryle 7/17, Dixie Heights 4/21
Free Throws: Ryle 2/7, Dixie Heights 8/9
Rebounds: Ryle 33, Dixie Heights 28
Assists: Ryle 12, Dixie Heights 5
Turnovers: Ryle 14, Dixie Heights 13
Steals: Ryle 7, Dixie Heights 9
Blocks: Ryle 7, Dixie Heights 2
Fouls: Ryle 9, Dixie Heights 9
Records: Ryle 20-11, Dixie Heights 18-13