By Terry Boehmker
NKy Tribune sports reporter
Tournament time seems to bring out the best in Covington Catholic junior guard Cole VonHandorf. After scoring 25 and 29 points in two district playoff victories last week, he netted 26 points in his team’s 77-48 win over Newport in the first round of the 9th Region tournament on Wednesday at BB&T Arena.
It was the 16th consecutive victory for the Colonels, who won the 9th Region title the last two years with VonHandorf in the starting lineup.
“In the district and now in the regional, he’s really taken over,” CovCath coach Scott Ruthsatz said of his star player. “Everybody’s looking to him for leadership and that’s really what made the difference in the last three games.”
CovCath took a 35-18 lead in the first half of Wednesday’s game with VonHandorf getting 12 points. He then scored nine points in the third quarter when his team extended the margin to 54-33.
The Colonels continued to pull away in the final quarter and Newport became the 21st opponent that they’ve held to less than 50 points this season.
The other double-figure scorers for CovCath were sophomore foward A.J. Mayer with 12 points and sophomore guard C.J. Fredrick with 11.
The Colonels ended up shooting 46.7 percent (21 of 45) from the field while holding Newport to 37.1 percent (13 of 35). The Wildcats’ leading scorers were senior guards Ethan Snapp and Kedan Davis with 13 points.
Last year, Newport took CovCath to overtime in a regional first-round game. The Colonels made sure that didn’t happen to them in Wednesdays game.
“No matter what you do in the regular season, people are always gunning for you,” coach Ruthsatz said. “You’ve always got to keep your foot on the gas pedal and play as hard as you can.”
CovCath will face Conner in the regional semifinals at 1 p.m. Sunday. Ruthsatz expects that to be a difficult challenge for his team.
“They’ve got some guys who can shoot it and they’ve got some good athletes,” Ruthsatz said. “We’ve got to keep them in front of us and contest their shots.”
COVCATH 15 20 19 23 — 77
NEWPORT 6 12 15 15 — 42
COVCATH (27-6): Fredrick 6 1 13, VonHandorf 9 5 26, Sweeney 1 1 3, Massie 2 0 4, Mayer 7 2 16, Ruthsatz 2 0 6, Schuh 1 0 3, Galvin 2 0 4, Walter 1 0 2. Totals: 31 9 77.
NEWPORT (17-15): Davis 4 4 13, Najae Williams 1 1 4, Snapp 5 0 13, Najee Williams 1 0 2, Harmon 5 1 11, Miller 1 0 2. Carey 1 0 3. Totals: 18 6 48.
3-pointers: CC — VonHandorf 3, Ruthsatz 2, Schuh. N — Snapp 3, carey, Najae Williams, Davis.
MASON COUNTY 72, CAMPBELL COUNTY 70 — Campbell County’s two-year region as 10th Region champion came to an end Wednesday when Antwavon Williams made a last-second 3-pointer to give Mason County the first-round win at Montgomery County High School.
Williams finished with 25 points. Campbell County senior center Matt Wilson took game-high honors with 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in his final high school game. The other double-figure scorers for Campbell County were Cole Hegyi with 19 and Tanner Clos hit 13.
Mason County will play Paris in the 10th Region semifinals at 6 p.m. Monday.
MASON COUNTY (21-10): P. Williams 8 6 25, Lofton 1 2 4, Dunaway 0 3 3, Garrison 7 1 15, D. Williams 4 2 12, Sweeney 5 2 13. Totals: 25 16 72.
CAMPBELL COUNTY (19-13): McGovney 2 0 4, Hegyi 6 7 19, Wilson 9 9 27, Clos 5 1 13, Bertsch 3 0 7. Totals: 25 17 70.
3-pointers: MC — P. Williams 3, D. Williams 2, Sweeney. CC — Clos 2, Bertsch.
COLLINS 56, SIMON KENTON 54 OT — Simon Kenton had a 34-23 lead at halftime, but Collins battled back and won the 8th Region first-round game in overtime at Henry County High School.
Sophomore center Zach Kelch scored 15 points and senior guard Austin Fries had 14 to lead the Pioneers, who earned a berth in the regional by winning the 37th District title.
Collins will play South Oldham in a regional semifinal game at 6 p.m. Monday.
COLLINS (15-17): Test 5 3 15, Turner 5 2 13, Clarkson 4 4 12, Feltnor 1 2 5, Fort 2 0 4, Eades 2 0 4, Stone 1 1 3. Totals: 20 12 56.
SIMON KENTON (12-17): Kelch 6 3 15, Fries 6 2 14, Sammons 4 2 10, Murray 2 1 5, Cottrell 2 0 5, Hawkins 1 1 3, Kitchens 1 0 2. Totals: 22 9 54.
3-pointers: C — Test 2, Turner, Feltnor. SK — Cottrell.