Thanks to St. Elizabeth Healthcare Sports Medicine for sponsoring our girls’ high school basketball coverage this season. See all of our girls’ basketball stories here and watch for state tournament coverage March 9-13 from BB&T Arena on the campus of Northern Kentucky University.
By Terry Boehmker
NKy Tribune sports reporter
Holmes girls’ basketball coach Tony Perkins is a hard man to please. After his team’s 69-32 win over Newport in a 9th Region first-round game on Tuesday at BB&T Arena, he grumbled about his players getting off to a slow start.
“I thought we came out kind of flat,” Perkins said. “I’ve been coaching a long time, this is my 30th year, and I think when you make it to the regional tournament how in the heck can you come out flat.”
That was veteran coach’s only complaint because once the Bulldogs got their game in gear they raced to an easy victory. And it was junior point guard Jaynice Stovall who provided the jump start they needed.
Holmes had a 13-9 lead going into the second quarter and Newport kept the score close for the first five minutes of that period. Then Holmes ripped off 14 straight points to extend its lead to 35-16 at halftime.
Stovall fueled that run by scoring 12 points with two of her baskets coming on fast-break layups off steals. She also hit a 3-point shot, scored off a rebound and made three foul shots.
The Bulldogs opened the third quarter with a 10-4 spurt and continued to pull away. When their lead reached 35 points midway through the fourth quarter, officials issued a running clock.
Stovall watched the final minutes of the fourth quarter from the bench with the rest of the team’s starters. She left the game early with an impressive stat line that included 18 points, five assists, four steals and four rebounds.
“She puts a lot of pressure on people and she handles the ball for us and gets everybody where they’re supposed to be.” coach Perkins said of the multi-talented point guard. “And once we spread the floor, she’s really hard to guard.”
The Bulldogs’ other double-figure scorers were sophomores Tyra Englemon (15), Kamari Graham (12) and Laila Johnson (11). Englemon and Johnson also had eight rebounds each. Holmes ended up shooting 37.3 percent (22 of 59) from the field.
The leading scorer for Newport was senior forward D.J. Grey with 10 points. Senior guard Kylie Orr finished with seven points, nine below her season average. The Wildcats shot just 21.3 percent (10 of 47) from the field and had 17 turnovers.
Holmes, the top-ranked team in the Northern Kentucky girls’ basketball coaches poll all season, moved a step closer to its first regional championship since 2002 with the victory.
The Bulldogs will play Conner in a regional semifinal game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday with the winner advancing to the regional final at 6 p.m. Sunday. Holmes beat Conner, 62-45, during the regular season.
NEWPORT 9 7 13 3 — 32
HOLMES 13 22 17 17 — 69
NEWPORT (13-15): Yeager 2 0 6, Grey 4 1 10, Stanley 0 3 3, McDay 2 0 4, Orr 1 4 7, Davis 1 0 2. Totals: 10 8 32.
HOLMES (26-4): Beckett 1 0 2, Johnson 4 3 11, Harris 2 2 7, Graham 4 1 12, Keith 1 0 2, Englemon 4 7 15, Stovall 5 7 18, Brown 1 0 2. Totals: 22 20 69.
3-pointers: N — Yeager 2, Grey, Orr. H — Graham 3, Harris, Stovall.