By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter

The unwanted reputation Dixie Heights had for being a one-and-done team in the 9th Region girls’ basketball tournament was cast aside Tuesday night.

For the first time since 2005, Dixie Heights made it through the first round of the regional playoffs by defeating Newport Central Catholic, 43-31, at BB&T Arena.

“It feels amazing,” freshman guard Sydney Lockard said after her team’s accomplishment. “We kind of knew (how long it’s been), but we wanted to come in here and win anyway. We wanted to do it last year, but it didn’t happen.”

The Colonels won the game with a 12-0 scoring run in the final seven minutes of the fourth quarter. Lockard made one field goal and three free throws during that run and finished with a game-high 13 points in the long-awaited victory.

Over the last 12 seasons, Dixie Heights had an 0-9 record in regional tournament games and two of those losses were to NewCath.

“We’ve had lot of firsts this year,” said Dixie Heights coach Joel Steczynski. “We hadn’t beaten NCC in as far back as KHSAA (girls’ basketball) goes back and this year we’ve beaten them twice.”

In the regional tournament game, there were 11 lead changes and four ties during the first three quarters. NewCath tied it for the fifth time, 31-31, on a fast-break basket by Jalyn Vogt in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, but her team wasn’t able to put any more points on the scoreboard.

The Thoroughbreds went 1-for-9 from the field and committed four turnovers on their final 10 offensive possessions. They ended up shooting 25.5 percent (12 of 47) form the field compared to the Colonels’ 40 percent (14 of 35).

“Our girls know they always have to do it with defense,” coach Steczynski said. “I kind of have defense in my blood and they know if they’re not going to step it up on defense they’re going to struggle to see the court.”

After Lockard made a field goal to break the game’s fifth tie, the Colonels got the rest of their points at the free throw line. They made 10 of 14 foul shots in the fourth quarter and ended up with a 14-2 scoring advantage at the line.

Dixie Heights will play Ryle in a regional semifinal game at 8:30 p.m. Friday. During the regular season, Ryle had a 12-1 record against 9th Region opponents and the one loss was to Dixie Heights in double overtime.

“They’re a pretty special team,” Steczynski said of Ryle. “I know they had an off-day when we played them, but I don’t know the last time we beat Ryle. That was another one of the firsts we had this year.”

DIXIE HEIGHTS  10   6  15 12 — 43
NEWCATH             8  10  11  2 — 31

DIXIE HEIGHTS (23-9): Buddenberg 3 4 10, Lockard 3 7 13, McGinn 2 0 4, Perry 2 2 7, Lawson 4 1 9. Totals: 14 14 43

NEWCATH (11-18): Pangallo 1 0 3, Vogt 4 0 9, Breen 0 2 2, Zimmerman 2 0 4, Kramer 3 0 7, Bridwell 2 0 6. Totals: 12 2 31.

3-pointers: DH — Perry. NC — Bridewell 2, Kramer, Vogt, Pangallo.

Ryle 60, Holy Cross 58

Ryle girls’ basketball coach Katie Haitz didn’t seem upset after her team squandered a 23-point lead in the second half and escaped with a 60-58 win over Holy Cross in the final 9th Region tournament first-round game on Tuesday at BB&T Arena.

“It all comes down to game situations,” Haitz said. “This was a first time for a lot of them being in this kind of atmosphere and arena, you know. They pulled it out. That’s the good thing for us, being in a tough situation and being able to pull it out.”

Ryle has been the top-ranked team in the 9th Region for most of the season and the Raiders showed why in the first three quarters of Tuesday’s game. After scoring on their first nine offensive possessions to take a 20-6 lead, they continued to pull away and had a 23-point advantage, 44-21, with less than four minutes left in the third quarter.

That’s when Holy Cross launched its comeback with senior guard Bailee Harney leading the way. She scored 12 of her game-high 21 points over the last 10 minutes of the game as the Indians pulled closer and closer.

With 13 seconds remaining, Holy Cross eighth-grader Lacey Bradshaw scored off an offensive rebound to cut the lead to 58-55. On the ensuing inbounds play, Ryle sophomore guard Jaiden Dothitt was fouled and made both free throws to give her team a five-point lead.

A 3-point goal by Holy Cross junior Olivia Crigler made it 60-58 with three seconds left, but her team didn’t have any timeouts remaining and Ryle let the time expire without inbounding the ball.

“The fact that they came out and gave their all after getting down by 20 (points) or more to the favorite, that’s a huge deal,” Holy Cross coach Kes Murphy said of his team’s rally. “I just told them it’s one step along the journey. We had many disappointing games with our group that won state (in 2015) and this is just part of it. This is one piece that will enhance us in years to come.”

The Raiders missed 10 free throws in the fourth quarter to open the door for the Indians’ comeback. To make matters worse, starting guard Maddi Scherr fouled out with 5:39 left on the clock.

“She does a lot for us,” Haitz said of Scherr. “She’s a leader on the floor and takes care of the ball. Obviously, you don’t want to lose that kind of player, but I thought (other players) stepped and took care of what they needed to do.”

Ryle advances to the regional semifinals and plays Dixie Heights at 8:30 p.m. Friday. In early January, Dixie Heights upset Ryle, 75-73, in double-overtime.

“We want to play Dixie again,” coach Haitz said. “We lost to them at the beginning of the year in January and we definitely want to come back Friday and take our chances with them and hopefully we’ll get a ‘W.'”

RYLE                  23  11  15  11 — 60
HOLY CROSS    10    4  16  28 — 58

RYLE (26-6): Crittendon 5 3 14, McGregor 3 0 6, Schwartz 3 3 11, Scherr 3 2 8, Douthitt 5 2 15, Johnson 1 0 2, Glore 1 0 2, Bishop 1 0 2. Totals: 22 10 60.

HOLY CROSS (18-13):  Harney 7 3 21, Chames 1 0 2, Simpson 1 2 4, Thomas 4 0 8, Bradshaw 4 2 10, Crigler 3 1 8, McClendon 1 0 2, Bezold 1 0 3. Totals: 22 8 58.

3-pointers: R — Douthitt 3, Schwartz 2, Crittendon. HC — Harney 4, Crigler, Bezold.

9TH REGION TOURNAMENT AT BB&T ARENA
FRIDAY
Holmes (20-7) vs. Conner (23-8), 7 p.m.
DixieHeights (23-9) vs. Ryle (26-6), 8:30 p.m.
SUNDAY
Championship game, 2 p.m.