By: Rick Broering, Enquirer contributor
CovCath's Ryan Massie and Holy Cross' Will Volpenhein battle for a ball that Massie came away with during the 35th District Championship Saturday, February 27, 2016.(Photo: Jim Osborn for The Enquirer)
The win marked CovCath's second consecutive 35th District title, and the program's third in four years. Holy Cross was participating in the district finals for the first time since 2004.
Nolan Schrand led Holy Cross with 13 points, and Leighton Schrand added 10.
CovCath scored 18 points off of 17 Holy Cross turnovers, while limiting the Indians to 4-of-18 (22%) from 3-point range. The Colonels shot 59.3 percent from the field, despite only hitting 3-of-14 from beyond the arc
VonHandorf and Leighton Schrand each scored on their team's first possessions of the game, but then CovCath went on an 11-0 run to take a 13-2 lead with 3:00 to play in the first quarter. Holy Cross closed on a 7-2 surge of its own to make it a 15-9 game after one.
"That (quick start) was great," VonHandorf said. "We really wanted revenge from last time. That was our last loss. We've gotten tremendously better from that. What wins us games is our defense."
VonHandorf was tasked with shutting down Holy Cross' top scorer, Tyler Bezold. Bezold came into the game averaging 16.7 points, but finished with six on Saturday.
"I just wanted to be aggressive, get up in him, don't let him facilitate or hand-off or screen," VonHandorf said. "I'm really taking pride in my defense, and it feels awesome."
Nolan Schrand's three to start the second quarter drew the Indians within one possession, 15-12. However, another big CovCath run in the middle of the period put the Colonels back in control. Four straight points from VonHandorf with a little over a minute to play in the half extended their lead to 33-17. A hanging finish in the lane by Leighton Schrand with 49 seconds left made it a 33-19 game at halftime.
Related: Holy Cross results, stats
VonHandorf went on a personal 7-0 run in the third quarter to put the game away. His bucket with 4:42 to play in the third put the Colonels up 20, 41-21. They led 44-25 after three.
VonHandorf felt the biggest adjustment from the last game when the Colonels lost to Holy Cross was playing better help defense, as opposed to focusing on Holy Cross' 3-point shooters on the perimeter.
"We watched the whole game on film, and you could see they had so many dump-offs and layups," VonHandorf said. "(Derrick) Barnes had 14 points on layups, I think, and that's what killed us last time."
CovCath (26-6): VonHandorf 10 7 29, Ruthsatz 3 5 12, Mayer 3 3 9, Fredrick 1 4 6, Massie 2 0 4, Sweeney 0 2 2. Totals 19 21 62.
Holy Cross (22-8): N Schrand 3 4 13, L Schrand 5 0 10, Scott 2 2 6, Bezold 3 0 6, Jakobowski 1 0 3, Barnes 1 1 3. Totals 15 7 41.
Halftime: CovCath 33, Holy Cross 19. 3-pointers: CovCath 3 (VonHandorf 2, Ruthsatz), Holy Cross 4 (N Schrand 3, Jakobowski).
35th District All-Tournament Team: J.T. Toebbe, Beechwood; Brandon Moore, Holmes; Leighton Schrand, Holy Cross; Hamilton Scott, Holy Cross; AJ Mayer, CovCath; Aiden Ruthsatz, CovCath. MVP: Cole VonHandorf, CovCath.