By Evan Merrill
NKyTribune contributor
FRANKFORT — In a thrilling back-and-forth game, Newport Central Catholic took down defending champion Cordia, 65-57, in the opening round of the Kentucky All “A” Classic boys’ state basketball tournament on Thursday at the Frankfort Convention Center.
It was a redeeming win for the Thoroughbreds, who lost to Cordia, 47-41, in last year’s semifinals after winning the small-school state tournament for three consecutive years. NewCath (12-7) will now face University Heights (11-10) in a quarterfinal game Friday at 6:30 p.m.
NewCath won the first-round game against Cordia with some clutch free throw shooting. In the final three minutes, the Thoroughbreds made 14 of 18 foul shots to fuel a game-winning 14-8 run.
“We recently have been struggling from the free throw line and (Thursday) I feel we knocked them down a lot more,” said NewCath senior guard Luke Moeves. “The regional finals we went 15 of 30 (at the line). That kind of hurt us, but we still came out with the win. (Thursday) we knocked them down and came a long way.”
There were three ties and four lead changes in the early minutes of the fourth quarter. A big 3-pointer by guard Stephen Pangallo gave the Thoroughbreds a 49-46 lead and they stayed on top the remainder of the game.
After Cordia junior guard Kareem McDonald hit a jumper to make it 51-49, the Thoroughbreds pulled away by doing the rest of their scoring at the free throw line.
NewCath struggled to box out Cordia’s taller inside players. The Lions finished with a 39-22 rebounding advantage, but the Thoroughbreds’ zone defense helped negate their opponent’s size advantage on the defensive end and helped force 10 Cordia turnovers.
“As far as the offensive side went, I thought we did a fantastic job of neutralizing that (size advantage),” NewCath coach Ken Collopy said. “The other side of the floor was a little more challenging. We started playing behind (them). We had to make some adaptations and try to front them.”
The Thoroughbreds shot 44.4 percent (20 of 45) from the field and 72.4 percent (21 of 29) from the line. After shooting 51.9 percent from the field in the first half, they made only six field goals in the second half and scored 18 of their 32 points at the line in those final two quarters.
Cordia shot 42 percent (21 of 50) from the field and 66.7 percent (14 of 21) from the line. The Lions’ leading scorer was McDonald with 15 points. Senior forward Malik Henry had a double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds.
NewCath opened the second quarter with a 9-3 run to take a 26-17 lead. Moeves scored five of his 14 points in that stretch. A buzzer-beater by Henry at the end of the quarter cut the margin to 27-22 at halftime.
“We weren’t locked in in that first half. We got behind and it was an uphill battle after that,” Cordia coach Josh Hurt said. “I just don’t think our focus was where it needed to be. In that first half, we gave them a lot of shots, a lot of good looks. When you play a team like NewCath and give them the looks like we gave them, you’re going to be playing from behind really quick.”
The Lions came roaring back in the third quarter and went on top, 40-38, for their first lead since the opening minutes of the game. The score was tied, 40-40, going into the fourth quarter and it stayed close until NewCath pulled away in the final three minutes.
The Thoroughbreds got valuable minutes from junior forward Brendan Luken, who scored 22 points and grabbed three rebounds against Cordia’s size inside. Junior guard Brennan Hall contributed 16 points and five assists.
“We talk about the next-man-up mentality,” coach Collopy said. “Our program’s always had that. Couldn’t be prouder of these guys. Brendan stepped up. Austin Neff gave us great minutes off the bench.”
NEWCATH 17 16 7 25 — 65
CORDIA 14 14 13 17 — 57
NEWCATH (12-7): Hall 4 8 16, Pangallo 1 2 5, Moeves 5 3 14, Luken 7 6 22, Wurtz 2 0 4, McDaniel 1 2 4. Totals: 20 21 65
CORDIA (10-6): Reed 2 2 6, Mercado 3 0 7, McDonald 5 5 15, Keita 2 5 9, Henry 6 1 13, Frazier 3 1 7. Totals: 21 14 57
Three-pointers: NC – Luken 2, Pangallo, Moeves. C – Mercado.