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| CovCath Outlasts Newport in OT, St. Henry Marches On |
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| Bryan Burke - The River City News |
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Newport was one made free-throw away from pulling off the second huge upset of the 9th Region tournament, but instead Covington Catholic held on in overtime to win, 57-49. On Friday, Holmes ousted NewCath in their quarterfinal game, and Newport was so close to pulling off the same result against the defending state champions, but lost steam in the overtime session.
CovCath (27-5) came out hot, scoring easy baskets on nice passes, racking up points and assists and taking a quick 10-0 lead. Newport looked a little out of control to start the game, missing close looks at the basket, turning the ball over on fast breaks and throwing up forced jumpers. The Wildcats found themselves in trouble early on, down 14-7 after the first quarter.
They would not lie down and give up, however, and the second quarter was a different story altogether. Newport went to a zone defense and changed the offensive pattern for the Colonels. CCH found it harder to score against the zone and relied on cutters to the rim being fouled on their attempts. Coach Ruthsatz had stern discussions with his team during time outs and appeared to be demonstrating how to better slide their feet on defense.
“It can be the kiss of death,” Ruthsatz said after the game. “You get up early, 10-0, and you would think we would have the wherewithal that this is an elimination game and that this is the time to go after the jugular and take it to another level, but we just didn't do that.”
Sure enough, the Wildcats willed themselves back into the game, when Cameron Covington scored on a one-handed putback that closed the gap to a one-possession game, 16-13. Then, after a nice spin-move basket in the paint for Colonel sophomore Cole VonHandorf, Newport ripped off a 5-0 run, including a three-pointer by junior guard Ethan Snapp, who led the game with eight points at halftime, and finished with a team-high 20 for the game. When point guard Paul Price set up freshman guard Rico Hollis on a layup with under a minute left in the first half, the score was tied at 18 apiece.
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| For more, read the full article at The River City News |
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 Monday, Apr 22  |
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