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By Terry Boehmker
NKy Tribune sports reporter
The Holmes girls’ basketball team maintained its perfect record against Northern Kentucky opponents this season with a 58-51 win over Campbell County on Wednesday in Covington.
But the Bulldogs got off to a shaky start once again and that’s perplexing to coach Tony Perkins.
“We came out flat like we didn’t want to be here,” Perkins said. “We just came out with no intensity, like we’ve just got to walk out there and everybody’s supposed to let us win.”
Holmes fell behind, 11-3, in the opening minutes of the game, but the team battled back to get the win. The Bulldogs now have a 20-4 record that includes a 12-0 mark against local teams.
Last week, however, the Bulldogs got off to a slow start in a game at Pulaski Southwestern and their comeback fell short in a 62-54 loss. At this point in the season, coach Perkins is concerned with his team’s inconsistent performance in their last two games.
“I’m proud of our kids for coming back (Wednesday), but I shouldn’t have to yell and get after people about playing hard,” he said. “We should be over that as a basketball team and, for the most part, I thought we were, but the last two games we’ve come out flat both times.”
Holmes was ranked No. 1 and Campbell County No. 5 in the latest Northern Kentucky basketball coaches poll conducted by the NKy Tribune. It looked like the Camels would pull off an upset when they jumped out to an 11-3 lead, but the score was tied, 24-24, at halftime.
When Holmes opened up a 32-26 lead in the third quarter, Campbell County mounted a comeback and tied it once more, 38-38, early in the fourth quarter.
That’s when Perkins put his team in a triangle-and-two defensive set that changed the course of the game. Campbell County committed turnovers on its next five possessions and Holmes scored 12 straight points to take a 50-38 lead with two minutes remaining.
During that 12-0 run, sophomore forward Tyrah Englemon scored six points and guards Laila Johnson and Jaynice Stovall each got a breakaway basket off a steal.
“That was big,” Englemon said of the decisive run. “I knew I had to step up and do something for my team.”
The Camels scored nine straight points to reduce the margin to 50-47 with less than a minute left on the clock. But the Bulldogs made their last eight free throws to come away with the victory.
Holmes finished with a 19-9 scoring advantage at the free throw line. Campbell County coach Beau Menifee openly objected to several calls by the officials, but he said the 23 turnovers committed by his team had a bigger impact on the outcome.
“We absolutely turned the ball over too much,” Menifee said. “I guess that’s what they do to you with their defense.”
Rebounding was also a key factor in the game. Holmes finished with a 34-27 advantage on the boards and scored 10 points off offensive rebounds in the second half. Englemon was the team leader in second-chance baskets. She finished with a game-high 19 points to go along with 11 rebounds.
“This was a good win for us,” Englemon said. “We needed this to get our mojo back and play together as a team after that loss (last week).”
The top scorer for Campbell County was sophomore guard Taylor Clos with 14 points. Senior guard Taylor Jolly made three 3-point goals and finished with 11 points for the Camels.
CAMPBELL CO. 13 11 9 18 – 51
HOLMES 9 15 11 23 – 58
CAMPBELL COUNTY (17-7): Kramer 3 1 8, Clos 6 2 14, M. Schwarber 4 3 10, Keeton 1 2 4, K. Schwarber 2 0 4, Jolly 3 2 11. Totals: 19 9 51.
HOLMES (20-4): Johnson 4 3 11, Harris 3 5 11, Graham 1 0 3, Englemon 6 6 19, Stovall 2 5 10, Brown 2 0 4. Totals: 18 19 58.
3-point goals: CC – Jolly 3, Kramer. H – Graham, Englemon, Stovall.