By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
When their families got together over the holidays, Zack Pangallo and Drew McDonald listened to relatives recount their glory days as high school athletes.
Both of them have grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts and cousins who played sports at Newport Central Catholic.
Zack and Drew are carrying on those family traditions. They’re senior starters on the NewCath boys’ basketball team that’s ranked No. 1 in the Northern Kentucky coaches poll and considered the top contender for the 9th Region championship.
The last time NewCath won the post-season boys’ regional playoffs was 2000. If the Thoroughbreds take the title this year, Zack and Drew will have some shining memories to share at future family gatherings.
“We’ve definitely made some (memories) along the way, it’s not like we don’t have any now,” Drew said. “There’s just one more slot in the scrapbook that needs to be filled, and that’s winning that 9th Region title this year.”
Drew is a husky 6-foot-7 forward with team-high averages of 19 points and 10 rebounds per game this season. Zack is a crafty point guard who averages 11 points and leads the team in both assists and steals.
They’re the main reasons NewCath has been voted the top team in the 9th Region by local coaches. But last year’s team was in that same lofty position and lost to Covington Catholic in the semifinal round of the regional tournament.
CovCath ending up winning the regional title and went on to capture its first “Sweet 16” state basketball championship, the most coveted title in Kentucky high school sports.
Zack and Drew have their minds set on leading their NewCath team to a successful run in this year’s post-season playoffs.
“We’ve been playing together for a really long time and we’ve always dreamed about coming here (to NewCath) and getting down to state and winning state,” Zack said. “That’s been a goal and a dream of ours ever since we were little kids.”
Zack and Drew started playing basketball together on an AAU select team when they were fourth graders. In their freshman year at NewCath, they were both moved up to the junior varsity team and got to dress for varsity games.
After Drew came off the bench and scored 22 points in his first varsity game as a freshman, the coaches kept him on the varsity squad. Zack became a varsity starter the following season and they’ve been in the lineup together ever since.
NewCath won regional and state titles in the Kentucky All “A” Classic small-school playoffs the last two years. Drew was named most valuable player in the 2013 All “A” state tournament and Zack won that same award last year.
But both of those seasons ended in disappointment for the Thoroughbreds. They lost in the first round of the 9th Region post-season playoffs in 2013 and were knocked off in the semifinals last year.
“It kind of stinks coming up short these last two years when you know you had the team that could do it,” Zack said. “There’s no excuses this year. We have to get it done.”
The Thoroughbreds have other challenges to face during the six weeks remaining on their regular-season schedule.
On Friday, they get a rematch with CovCath during the Bluegrass-Buckeye Charity Classic. After that, they’re hoping to win regional and state titles in the All “A” Classic small-school playoffs for the third straight year.
In late February, NewCath will play back-to-back games against perennial powers Holmes and Louisville Trinity, the top-ranked team in the state this season.
After all that’s behind them, Zack and Drew plan to draw from the experiences they had the last two season going into the post-season playoffs.
“We try not to worry about what people say we should accomplish. You don’t want that to get to your head,” Zack said. “We just want to stick together and focus on what we have to do as teammates to win games and not worry about what everybody expects us to do.”
Drew has already accepted a basketball scholarship from Northern Kentucky University. Zack is still weighing his offers. He’s being recruited by several small college basketball teams and a few major college baseball teams have shown an interest in him.
They both know this basketball season will be their final one as teammates, and they’re determined to make it special.
“It’s our senior year and we want to go out with a bang,” Drew said. “We all just have to keep playing hard, like this is going to be the last time you’re ever going to play this game.”
Newport Central Catholic High boys’ basketball team honors ‘Mrs. P.’