By: Rick Broering
Jim Osborn for The Enquirer
CovCath's Andy Flood drive past Zach Pangallo during the third quarter.
Last year, as Covington Catholic was making its run to capture the school's first state basketball championship, there was a group of Colonels that were a huge part of the process but weren't necessarily showing up in the box scores as big contributors. This year, CovCath returned a few key members from that championship team, including sophomore Cole VonHandorf and senior Bo Schuh, but if they want to repeat the excitement of a regional and state title run, they'll need production from that group of players who were waiting their turn and providing competition in practice last year.
A few of those guys stepped up Friday night as CovCath beat Newport Central Catholic 58-48 in a battle for Northern Kentucky supremacy. NewCath came into the game ranked No. 1 in the Enquirer Northern Kentucky coaches' poll, with CovCath sitting at No. 2.VonHandorf led the Colonels with 17 points and combined with seniors Cooper Theobald and Andy Flood to score 48 of the team's 58 points. Theobald added 16 and three rebounds from the point guard position, while Flood added 15 on 6-of-10 shooting from the field.
It was the third and final game of the Bluegrass-Buckeye Charity Classic at Northern Kentucky University's Bank of Kentucky Center.
Both Theobald and Flood were reserves on last year's team, but have stepped into crucial starting roles for the Colonels this year.
"Last year was just awesome, watching those guys play and getting to go to state," Flood said. "I learned a lot getting to play against those guys and I got a lot tougher. I knew I wanted to play more this year, so I went pretty hard in the offseason getting up shots every day. My teammates did a great job of finding me tonight when they tried to get up on Cole (VonHandorf)."
The game started off in nightmarish fashion for the Thoroughbreds. CovCath raced out to a 9-1 lead before NewCath coach Ron Dawn called a timeout and calmed down his team. The Thoroughbreds battled back thanks in large part to three first-half 3-pointers from senior Erik Anderson, but the Colonels still held a 30-25 advantage at halftime
Flood hit all four of his shots in the first half to lead the Colonels with nine points at intermission.
While NewCath had the size advantage with 6-foot-7 NKU signee Drew McDonald and 6-foot-6 junior forward Ben Weyer, CovCath's toughness in the paint negated that advantage. The Colonels outrebounded the 'Breds 11-10 in the half and tied them in second chance points, 2-2.
"Bo Schuh and Grant Romes battled really well in there," CovCath coach Scott Ruthsatz said. "But even when we went smaller with our lineup in the second half, it was just grunting out rebounds. We worked on that after the Moeller loss. Moeller really taught us to be more physical."
NewCath took its first lead on a corner 3-pointer by junior reserve guard John Ludwig with less than two minutes left in the third quarter. The lead changed hands a few times into the first few minutes of the fourth quarter before CovCath pulled away thanks to three straight NewCath turnovers. The Colonels outscored their counterparts 17-5 in the final period.
Theobald had a key and-one finish with 4:05 left in the game that almost became a pivotal moment. His basket and ensuing free throw pushed the Colonels' lead to 48-43, but a technical foul called on Theobald allowed NewCath an opportunity to recover. Instead, the 'Breds missed both free-throws and didn't score on the ensuing possession.
CovCath's full-court pressure defense played a big role in the win. In addition to forcing 15 NewCath turnovers that the Colonels converted into 17 points, the pace of the game wore down the thin Thoroughbreds lineup by the fourth quarter. CovCath only turned the ball over seven times.
"That was part of our game plan, to pressure," Ruthsatz said. "We rotated guys early in the first half and early in the second half. Our conditioning and our ability to rebound really turned the course of the game. Them only scoring five points in the fourth quarter was a good indicator of our systematic approach of continuing to push it, continue running and just being real physical with them."
NewCath typically has a pretty tight seven-man rotation, and on Friday night, with Weyer getting in foul trouble early and junior point guard Zack Pangallo dealing with cramps throughout the game, the 'Breds were even thinner at times.
"We played a quarter and a half in the second half without Zack (Pangallo)," NewCath coach Ron Dawn said. "That's huge. We don't have another guy that can do what he does. We played a quarter and a half in the first half without Ben (Weyer). We're just not deep enough to replace those guys or Drew (McDonald). But it's not an excuse - Schuh sat out for them, too."
"We made terrible decisions. We missed open shots, missed foul shots, I was really disappointed with our rebounding. We have to get tougher, mentally and all the way around. If we don't get to that point, it will be more of the same."
For now, CovCath is once again the top team in Northern Kentucky. And its seniors plan on keeping it that way.
"We want to experience it again like we did last year," Flood said. "Guys like Cooper (Theobald), (Matthew) Shumate and I didn't get to play that much last season, but we've stepped up."
NewCath (11-3) – McDonald 7 4 18, Weyer 3 3 10, E. Anderson 3 0 9, Ludwig 1 2 5, Pangallo 0 4 4, G. Moeves 1 0 2. Totals 15 13 48.
CovCath (12-4) – VonHandorf 5 6 17, Theobald 5 6 16, Flood 6 2 15, Lenhof 2 0 5, Schuh 2 0 4, Shumate 0 1 1. Totals 20 15 58.
Halftime: CovCath 30 NewCath 25. 3-Pointers: NewCath 5 (E. Anderson 3, Weyer, Ludwig) CovCath 3 (Lenhof, VonHandorf, Flood).