By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The Covington Catholic boys’ basketball team will likely fall from the No. 1 spot in the state power ratings after an 81-62 loss to Lexington Dunbar in the Dan Tieman Classic on Saturday at Thomas More College.
The 19-point margin made it the Colonels’ worse loss this season. They remained in the locker room for a long time after it ended to sort out what went wrong against the defending state champions.
“There were a lot of different aspects, particularly defense,” said CovCath coach Scott Ruthsatz. “We could not guard them at all. We looked tired. We looked complacent. We didn’t do anything right defensively.”
The Colonels entered the game with a 47.3 defensive average that was among the best in the state. But Dunbar shot 53.8 percent (28 of 52) from the field overall and went 7-of-16 from behind the 3-point line to upset the state’s top-ranked team in the Litkenhous Ratings.
Dunbar senior guard Taveion Hollingsworth showed why he’s the leading candidate for Mr. Kentucky Basketball this season with an impressive performance. In addition to scoring a game-high 24 points, he had eight rebounds and six assists for the Bulldogs, who are No. 8 in the state power ratings.
“He’s probably the most complete player I’ve seen play against us all year,” Ruthsatz said of Hollingsworth, a Western Kentucky University recruit. “It’s just his ability to control everything. His ability to get in the lane and shoot. His ability to get in the lane and pass. He had a terrific game and my hat’s off to him. It was a tremendous effort.”
Hollingsworth scored eight points during a 13-2 run in the first and second quarters that gave Dunbar a 30-19 lead. During that run, CovCath committed six turnovers and went 1-for-9 from the field against the Bulldogs’ nagging full-court defense.
CovCath trimmed the margin to 38-32 at halftime and pulled to within five points, 43-38, when junior forward A.J. Mayer made a pair of free throws early in the third quarter. But the Colonels could not contain Dunbar’s athleticism and get the defensive stops they needed to take control of the game.
“We just couldn’t guard them,” Ruthsatz said. “They were very aggressive on the bounce, whether it was in the post or on the wings or in the guard position.”
CovCath junior guard C.J. Fredrick, making his first start since a broken foot sidelined him in December, hit a jump shot at the start of the fourth quarter that made it 58-52. But the Colonels’ fans didn’t have a lot to cheer about after that as Dunbar went on a 19-4 run to secure the victory.
“We played really hard from tip to buzzer so I was really pleased with that,” said Dunbar coach Scott Chalk. “This is a whole new bunch. Other than Taveion, none of these guys played last year. With that inexperience at the beginning of the season, we had trouble playing hard the whole 32 (minutes in a game). So I was really pleased with that (Saturday), staying sharp and staying after it the whole time.”
CovCath ended up shooting 42.6 percent (20 of 47) from the field and committed 18 turnovers. The team’s leading scorers were Fredrick with 21 points and Mayer with 16. Senior guard Cole VonHandorf was limited to four points, 14 below his season average, and he committed five turnovers.
During the CovCath team’s long post-game meeting in the locker room, Ruthsatz expressed his disappointment in the lopsided loss with one week left in the regular season.
“I just let them know there’s so much pride that other guys have taken in developing the culture here and we didn’t uphold it,” the coach said. “They’ve got to go back and make sure they’re dedicating themselves to the program and what we’re tying to do. From there, we learn from our mistakes and move forward.”
DUNBAR 22 16 20 23 — 81
COVCATH 17 15 18 12 — 62
DUNBAR (21-6): Richardson 5 4 16, Yeast 2 0 6, Corio 2 4 8, Gray 2 4 8, Hollingsworth 10 3 24, Gadd 2 0 6, Ifeacho 5 3 13. Totals: 28 18 81.
COVCATH (23-5): Fredrick 6 8 21, VonHandorf 2 0 4, Mayer 3 10 16, Ruthsatz 2 2 7, Thelen 1 0 2, Walter 6 0 12. Totals: 20 20 62.
Three-pointers: D — Richardson 2, Yeast 2, Gadd 2, Hollingsworth. CC — Fredrick, Ruthsatz.