By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The hottest team in Northern Kentucky will play the three-time defending champion in the title game of the 9th Region All “A” Classic boys’ basketball tournament at 7 p.m. Saturday at Lloyd High School.
Holy Cross and Newport Central Catholic both won semifinal games by wide margins on Thursday to create the match-up everyone expected in the final game of the local small-school playoffs.
Holy Cross has a 14-4 record with wins against every 9th Region team it has played this season, including NewCath. But the Thoroughbreds have won All “A” Classic regional and state championships the last three years and they’ll do whatever they can to continue that streak.
“It should be a war Saturday night,” said Holy Cross coach Ryan Schrand. “We’re not going to back down from anyone so we’ll see what happens. It could go either way, honestly.”
The top player on each of the two finalists has been dealing with an injury this week. NewCath senior forward Ben Weyer has a sprained wrist and Holy Cross senior forward Tyler Bezold has a sprained ankle. But both of them played in semifinal games on Thursday so there’s no reason to think they won’t be on the court Saturday.
Weyer scored a team-high 14 points in NewCath’s 78-60 semifinal win over St. Henry. He was one of five double-figure scorers for the Thoroughbreds, who took a 23-9 lead in the first quarter and extended it to 47-29 by halftime.
In the second semifinal game. Bezold scored 13 points in the first half of his team’s 79-48 win over Bellevue. He spent the second half sitting in the stands behind the team bench with his leg propped up to reduce swelling.
“Actually, he hurt his ankle (Wednesday) night against Newport, but he toughed it out and played to see how it felt,” Schrand said. “He just needs to rest it and he”ll be fine for Saturday.”
Holy Cross defeated NewCath, 65-60, in a regular season game on Dec. 22. Weyer had game-high totals of 28 points and 13 rebounds that night. Bezold finished with 16 points and six rebounds. Seeing how they do against each other in Saturday’s rematch will be interesting.
“NewCath has had a lot of success in this tournament over the years and I think they’ve got the best player in the region in Ben Weyer,” coach Schrand said. “We’ve just got to be ready for him and all the match-ups. And, hopefully, we shoot the ball well.”
The Indians made 11 3-point shots in their semifinal win. Senior forward Erich Jakobowski hit four treys in the third quarter when his team put the game away with a 23-14 scoring run. Holy Cross played full-court pressure defense for most of the game and forced Bellevue into commiting 21 turnovers.
NewCath’s five double-figure scorers in its win over St. Henry were Weyer with 14 points, followed by Eric Anderson (12), Brennan Hall (11), Brian Anderson (10) and Luke Moeves (10).