By Terry Boehmker
NKy Tribune sports reporter
Newport Central Catholic boys’ basketball coach Ron Dawn was not happy with his team’s offensive performance in the first half of a 9th Region semifinal game against Holy Cross on Sunday at BB&T Arena.
The Thoroughbreds were ahead, 21-20, at the break, but they shot 29.6 percent (8 of 27) from the field and committed six turnovers in the first 16 minutes. And the team’s best inside player, Ben Weyer, had just seven points.
“We weren’t doing the things we worked on and emphasized, mainly getting the ball inside and being patient,” Dawn said. “We were settling for threes and we can’t do that. We needed to attack the rim more, and we did that in the second half.”
NewCath nearly doubled its scoring output in the second half with Weyer leading the way and defeated Holy Cross, 62-37, to make it to the regional final for the first time since 2012.
The Thoroughbreds will play two-time defending champion Covington Catholic at 7 p.m. Monday to decide the region’s representative in the boys’ state tournament March 16-20 at Rupp Arena in Lexington.
Weyer scored 20 his game-high 27 points in the second half against Holy Cross. The 6-foot-7 senior forward got most of his baskets in the paint, including four stick-backs after getting offensive rebounds.
The Thoroughbreds also did a better job at the defensive end in the second half, limiting Holy Cross to 17 points in the final 16 minutes.
“In the second half, we weren’t sharing the ball and taking bad shots,” said Holy Cross coach Ryan Schrand. “It was only a one-point game at the half, but then NewCath made shots and we didn’t. It was just an unfortunate way to end the season after the good run that we had.”
Holy Cross earned a berth in the regional tournament for the first time since 2003 and made it to the semifinals for the first time since 1994. But the Indians had their lowest scoring game of the year against NewCath, mainly because they shot 34 percent (15 of 44) from the field.
NewCath ended up shooting 38.5 percent (22 of 57) for the game, but the Thoroughbreds were 14-of-30 for 46.6 percent in the second half. Weyer had a lot to do with that, and he hopes to be just as effective in the regional final against CovCath on Monday night.
“When we run our offense like (coach) says, we can win this region,” Weyer said. “I mean, we’ll see (Monday), but if we play like we did in that second half (against Holy Cross) I like our chances.”
NEWCATH 11 10 16 25 — 62
HOLY CROSS 9 11 6 11 — 37
NEWCATH (27-4): Hall 3 0 7, Moeves 2 2 8, E. Anderson 4 0 9, Ludwig 1 0 3, Neff 0 2 2, Iles 1 0 3, Pangallo 1 0 3, Weyer 10 4 27. Totals: 22 8 62.
HOLY CROSS (23-9): Jacobowski 3 0 8, Schrand 4 2 11, Volpenhein 2 0 5, Bezold 3 0 7, Barnes 2 0 4, Meinze 1 0 2. Totals: 15 2 37.
3-pointers: NC — Weyer 3, Moeves 2, Hall, Anderson, Ludwig, Iles, Pangallo. HC — Jacobowski 2, Schrand, Volpenhein, Bezold.