By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The Holy Cross boys’ basketball team made 11 shots from behind the 3-point line to account for nearly half its points in a 68-61 win over Scott on Tuesday.
But it was the Indians’ defensive performance that actually decided the game. By limiting Scott to 11 points in the first 14 minutes of the second half, Holy Cross was able to post its third straight upset victory against a team ranked among the top 10 in the Northern Kentucky preseason coaches poll.
Scott was ranked No. 6 and Holy Cross was No. 10 in the coaches voting. Last week, the Indians beat No. 2 Cooper and No. 4 Campbell County.
“I don’t care about voting,” said Holy Cross senior forward Tyler Bezold. “We’ll just let the game decide who wins.”
Bezold stepped up in the second half for the Indians. In addition to scoring 15 of his team-high 20 points in the final two quarters, his rebounding helped the team’s defensive effort.
In the fourth quarter, Holy Cross opened up a 61-53 lead because Scott wasn’t able to put the ball in the basket for more than four minutes.
“We can score, I know that, so it’s going to come down to the defensive end and rebounding,” said Holy Cross coach Ryan Schrand. “We did our job in the second half on those so you’ve got to give our guys a lot of credit.”
Scott got off to a great start and took a 21-8 lead in the first quarter. But Holy Cross senior guard Erich Jakobowski hit a 3-point shot on his team’s next four possessions to slice the margin to 24-20 at the end of the period.
The Eagles closed out the second quarter with an 8-4 run that gave them a 42-35 halftime lead. At the break, Scott junior point guard Jake Ohmer and senior shooting guard Andrew Trame had 15 points each so the Indians knew exactly what they had to do on defense.
“We wanted to limit (Trame’s) touches and Jake Ohmer’s touches in the second half,” Schrand said. “We tried to get the ball out of Jake’s hands and we were staying a little closer to Trame because he’s a stand-still shooter who can really knock (shots) down.”
The Indians’ defensive adjustment worked well. Trame made one free throw in the second half while Ohmer was limited to 11 points with six coming in the final minute.
“We just had a situation where (Holy Cross) started running and jumping Jake and we really didn’t have anyone else who could handle the ball and execute our offense,” said Scott coach Brad Carr.
Holy Cross took a 51-49 lead when Bezold swished a shot from beyond the half-court line just before the horn sounded to end the third quarter. The score was tied twice in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, but then Scott went scoreless for more than four minutes.
“We kind of got into a stagnant offense and we didn’t share the basketball like we did in the first half,” coach Carr said.
Holy Cross ran off eight straight points before the Eagles were able to score again. In the final seconds, Bezold and Jabobowski each made two free throws to clinch the win.
“We have all these seniors and it’s just great positive energy,” Bezold said of his team’s 5-1 start. “We don’t ever think that we’re going to lose a game.”
HOLY CROSS 20 15 16 17 — 68
SCOTT 24 18 7 12 — 61
HOLY CROSS (5-1): Jakobowski 6 2 19, Scott 1 1 3, Schrand 5 4 16, Bezold 5 8 20, Zimmerman 2 0 5, Volpenhein 2 0 5. Totals: 21 15 68.
SCOTT (3-2): Ohmer 11 2 26, Jolley 2 2 6, Seay 2 0 5, Trame 5 2 16, Dumlao 1 2 4, Englemon 2 0 4. Totals: 23 8 61.
Three-pointers: HC – Jakobowski 5, Schrand 2, Bezold 2, Zimmerman, Volpenhein. S – Trame 4, Ohmer 2, Seay.