By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Holy Cross girls basketball coach Ted Arlinghaus has a team that’s designed to disrupt opponents with its aggressive defense and that worked well for the Indians during the 9th Region All “A” Classic.
After limiting opponents to 36 and 26 points in their first two wins, the Indians set a tournament record for widest winning margin in the championship game with a 74-30 victory over Ludlow on Saturday at Newport High School.
“In this whole tournament, we really buckled down on the defensive end,” said Arlinghaus. “We’ve just been kind of taking the approach, hey, let’s give maximum defensive effort and it’s going to be really hard for someone to have a big night and take us down.”
Holy Cross (13-4) earned a return trip to the Kentucky All “A” Classic state tournament with Saturday’s 44-point victory. The Indians will play the 14th Region champion in the opening game on the 16-team bracket at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 25 at Eastern Kentucky University.
Last year, Holy Cross made it to the state tournament semifinals and lost to Owen County, 37-36, on a free throw that was taken with no time left on the clock. The player charged with the last-second foul was forward Julia Hunt, who scored a game-high 16 points in Saturday’s region final.
“I’m so ready to get back down there and maybe get back at the team that pushed us out,” Hunt said. “But you’ve got to be ready for anything.”
Hunt did all of her scoring in the first half of Saturday’s region final. At the halftime break, Holy Cross had a 44-17 lead because its defense had forced 10 turnovers and limited Ludlow to just six field goals .
After the Indians opened up a 54-17 lead early in the third quarter, coach Volpenhein pulled his starters out of the game. But the reserves held Ludlow to one 3-point field goal over the last five minutes of the quarter and the spread grew to 67-20.
Hunt, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player, gives coach Arlinghaus credit for the team’s strong defensive performance.
“Ted pushes us,” she said. “He jump starts it all and once we get into it it’s so much fun to get turnovers playing defense or pressing, and then you get more points on offense, too.”
Volpenhein said his team’s depth and athletic ability is what makes their aggressive game plan successful.
“In order to do that, you have to pick up the tempo and pick up the pace and you start that on the defensive end,” he said. “And if you’re playing that hard and giving an all-out effort, you can’t play a whole game. So you’ve got to be able to sub in and out, and our bench has really come through for us this year.”
Ludlow made seven 3-point goals to account for 21 of its 30 points. Senior gyard Mylee Garret hit four treys for the Panthers and finished with 13 points. The other double-figure scorers for Holy Cross were seniors Sarah Bottom with 12 points and Nejai Lewis with 10.
HOLY CROSS 23 21 23 7 — 74
LUDLOW 8 9 3 10 — 30
HOLY CROSS (13-4): Hunt 8 0 16, Aleah Arlinghaus 2 0 6, Alyssa Arlinghaus 2 0 5, Hayes 2 0 5, Nelson 0 3 3, Carter 3 2 8, Lewis 5 0 10, Williams 3 1 7, Bottom 4 2 12, Rieselman 1 0 2. Totals: 30 8 74
LUDLOW (8-8): M. Garrett 4 1 13, A. Garrett 3 0 8, Hoffmeister 2 0 5, Huff 0 2 2, Pence 1 0 2. Totals: 10 3 30.
Three-point goals: HC — Aleah Arlinghaus 2, Bottom 2, Alyssa Arlinghaus, Hayes. L — M. Garrett 4, A. Garrett 2, Hoffmeister.
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Holy Cross — Julia Hunt (MVP), Aleah Arlinghaus, Nejai Lewis. Ludlow — Mylee Garrett, Ava Hoffmeister. St. Henry — Kayla Unkraut. Bellevue — Ally McPherson. NewCath — Caroline Eaglin. Newport — Kayton Perry, Dayton — Lacey Hunt. Beechwood — Harper Berkemeier. Villa Madonna — Annie Chadwick.