By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
After Covington Catholic won the 9th Region boys’ basketball championship game on Tuesday, the team’s five seniors locked arms and walked to the awards table together to accept the trophy.
CovCath needed a strong finish to defeat Holmes, 45-37, in the regional final and some of those seniors made it happen by scoring eight of the Colonels’ final 10 points.
“They just hung together and we’re glad to get out of here with a win,” said CovCath coach Scott Ruthsatz. “It was low scoring for me, but I’ll take it.”
CovCath led by only two points, 35-33, with 2:28 left in the fourth quarter and clinched the win with a 10-4 run. A basket by senior forward Bo Schuh got the it started and senior guard Cooper Theobald made five throws. Matt Shumate, another senior guard, also knocked down a foul shot.
The win sends the Colonels back to the state tournament to defend last year’s title. Their first-round opponent will be 10th Region champion Campbell County at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 18 at Rupp Arena in Lexington.
“We’re all ready,” Theobald said of returning to the state tournament. “We’re going down there with the mindset that we’re going to get another state title.”
Some people doubted if CovCath would repeat as regional champs after losing three starters to graduation last spring. One of them was the coach’s son, Nick Ruthsatz, who led the team in scoring last season and was named most valuable player in the state tournament after leading the Colonels to the title.
Winning the regional title once again is a shining accomplishment for the current CovCath seniors, who have shared the leadership role on this year’s team.
“Going into the season everybody said you can’t win it without Nick (Ruthsatz),” Schuh said. “He just played great the entire season (last year) and everyone said without him we wouldn’t be anything. It’s just great that we could prove everyone wrong.”
CovCath sophomore guard Cole Von Handorf scored a game-high 17 points in the regional final. Schuh finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Theobald’s stat line included 11 points, eight rebounds and two assists, even though he spent most of the first half on the bench after picking up two fouls.
Schuh, a three-year starter on the varsity level, got four defensive rebounds during his team’s game-winning run in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
“He’s just a warrior,” coach Ruthsatz said of Schuh. “He might not play well all the time, but he does enough for his team to give us a chance to win.”
This is Theobold’s first season in CovCath’s starting lineup. He took over the point guard position vacated by Nick Ruthsatz. The team’s other first-year starters are senior forward Grant Romes and junior guard Andy Flood.
“Our coaches had faith in us the whole time, each player,” Theobald said. “Everyone knew we didn’t have a playmaker like Nick Ruthsatz, who proved he was one of the best players in the state last year, but we just came together as a team and played as a unit.”
Like most of his teammates, Theobald saw very little playing time during last year’s state tournament. The three players with the most experience at Rupp Arena are Schuh, Romes and and Von Handorf, who was named to the state all-tournament team last year.
“Cole is a special kid,” coach Ruthsatz said. “He just has a great feel for the game. He passes well, he can shoot and he’s just tough to guard. He leads us by example, just scoring points and making the right plays.”
Terry Boehmker, NKyTribune sports writer, is former sportswriter and editor for The Kentucky Post. He is an award-winning writer with extensive background in both print and digital. Reach him at terryboe@yahoo.com.