By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Newport Central Catholic boys’ basketball coach Ron Dawn said his team had one of its best practice sessions of the season the day before the 9th Region All “A” Classic got underway last week.
After winning regional and state titles in the small school playoffs the last two years, the Thoroughbreds worked exceptionally hard in practice to get ready for another successful run, and it paid off. NewCath won all four of its regional tournament games by wide margins, including an 85-44 victory over St. Henry in Saturday’s championship game, to raise its season record to 15-3.
If the Thoroughbreds win four games during the Touchstone Energy Kentucky All “A” Classic state tournament this week in Frankfort, they’ll become the first team to win the small school state title for three consecutive years.
“We know for a fact that we’re going to have a big target on our backs,” said NewCath senior point guard Zack Pangallo. “Everyone down there is going to try to beat us because we’ve won it two years in a row and we’re ranked pretty high in the state. So everyone is going to give it there best against us. We just have to come out and play hard and play our game.”
The Kentucky All “A” Classic begins Thursday with eight first-round games at the Frankfort Civic Center. NewCath will play 3rd Region champion Hancock County (11-7) in the third game at 11:30 a.m. When the Hancock County coaches look at the scores from last week’s 9th Region playoffs, they have to be a little worried about facing NewCath. The Thoroughbreds dominated all four of their regional opponents with a combination of balanced scoring, strong rebounding and good defense.
In the regional final, the Thoroughbreds scored on 13 of their first 16 offensive possessions to open up a 26-15 lead against St. Henry and they continued to pull away. They led 42-23 at halftime and 68-33 at the end of the third period when coach Dawn pulled his starters out of the game. NewCath ended up shooting 59.2 percent (29 of 49) from the field while holding St. Henry to 29.6 percent (16 of 54).
The Thoroughbreds also had a 41-24 rebounding advantage.
“Everyone was shooting really well,” Pangallo said. “I guess it’s just the chemistry we have. We move the ball around and get good looks.”
NewCath senior center Drew McDonald posted a double-double with 22 points and 14 rebounds in the championship game. Pangallo, who finished with 18 points, five assists and four steals, was named most valuable player on the all-tournament team.
“You don’t win without the team, especially our team with us having so many different scorers,” Pangallo said. “Everyone has a chance to be MVP when we play together.”
The regional tournament gave Pangallo a chance to get back on track after a disappointing performance in his team’s loss to Covington Catholic on Jan. 16. He was hampered by leg cramps during that game and ended up sitting out most of the second half.
“He was down after that (game),” coach Dawn said. “So this (tournament) was really good for him.”
McDonald and senior guard Grant Moeves were the other NewCath players named to the regional all-tournament team. Dawn said senior forward Ben Weyer also deserved a spot after getting 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocks against St. Henry.
With all five of his starters playing so well, Dawn is looking forward to making the trip to Frankfort this week and bidding for an unprecedented third straight small school state title.
“Nobody’s ever done it before so that’s a big thing for us,” Dawn said. “That was one of our goals at the beginning of the year, we wanted to be the first team to win three in a row. And there’s been some really good teams in this (tournament) over the years, like University Heights, Lexington Catholic, Paintsville and some others, and nobody has ever won three in a row.”
Advance tickets to the Kentucky All “A” Classic will be sold at the participating high schools. Holy Cross will represent the 9th Region in the girls’ tournament and has a first-round game against Danville at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. The championship finals will be played Sunday with the girls’ game at 12:30 p.m. and the boys’ game at 2:30 p.m.