Holy Cross makes most of its 2nd chance, so does Ryle, setting up 9th Region semifinal of district losers


By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter

Second chances are beautiful things.

If, that is, you take advantage of them.

Holy Cross did, and then some, in its 56-40 Sunday night quarterfinal win over 34th District champ Dixie Heights in the Ninth Regional Girls Basketball Championship at NKU’s Truist Arena.

Holy Cross’ Miyah Wimzie splits a pair of Dixie defenders for a score. (Photo by Dale Dawn)

And yes, after not getting it done in their 35th District championship loss to Notre Dame, Holy Cross made it happen here.

“It’s amazing,” Miyah Wimzie said of the additional opportunity, “for our seniors.”

And yes, she is the granddaughter of former Holmes basketball star John Wimzie, who was here to see her play, as Wimzie continued.

“Especially for our seniors . . . we have four of them.”

Two of those seniors – starter Aleah Arlinghaus and off the bench, Nejai Lewis — took care of it themselves for their class.

In 31-and-a-half minutes of handling the ball against Dixie Heights’ full-court pressure, Arlinghaus turned it over just twice while scoring nine points.

But the scrappy Lewis was the difference in this one, coming in for 23 minutes and scoring 15 points with seven rebounds in what proved to be an absolute necessity with Julia Hunt, the Indians’ 6-foot-2 post player, limited to 24:30 with foul trouble.

“Give your teammates all the credit,” Holy Cross Coach Ted Arlinghaus told his players as they headed for a post-game radio interview. “And your coach,” he said with a laugh.

The “players” part was certainly on the money. With Hunt limited to six points, but still managing a game-high nine rebounds, the now 26-7 Indians needed a scoring pick-me-up.

Lewis gave it to them. But she was hardly alone. Wimzie fired in 10 points with four rebounds in her 25:00 minutes as seven Holy Cross players got substantial minutes in this game.

How about eighth-grader DMyah Williams, who scored seven points with three rebounds as one of three grade-schoolers on the Indians’ roster.

“I played strong,” she said, especially “grabbing those rebounds.” No pressure for the eighth-grader in a big regional game? “Nope.”

Also off the bench, sophomore Aumani Nelson scored eight points with three rebounds in her 10:43.

Holy Cross eighth-grader gets a step on a Dixie defender for a score. (Photo by Dale Dawn)

“Holy Cross is deep,” Ryle Coach Kaitie Haitz said after scouting the Indians in what will be a semifinal matchup.

But if there was one stat that told the tale here, it was the turnover number. Dixie Heights had 20, six more than their field goal total. Hard to win that way.

Add to that number the five shots Hunt blocked and there just weren’t enough offensive opportunities for the Colonels, who finished at 25-7 as the 34th District champion.

As a district winner, Dixie Heights didn’t need a second chance here.

Now they won’t get one in the one-and-out regional.

“The district wasn’t what we wanted,” Wimzie said of the Notre Dame loss. So they made the do-over do it for them.

As for not panicking when leading scorer and rebounder Hunt went to the bench with two fouls in the first quarter, Wimzie said she wasn’t worried.

“I knew we had players who could what she could do.”

A bold statement but Wimzie was right. After falling behind 24-23 at halftime, the Indians came back with a 15-2 run to open the third period by taking it to the basket.

And it didn’t seem to matter who was in the game for the Covington school.

After being outrebounded 17-9 the first half, Holy Cross became much more active and aggressive the second half, grabbing 19 rebounds to Dixie’s 14.

And it wasn’t easy playing with an uncertain officiating crew from Louisville, who – until the fourth quarter – had a different interpretation of the basic block-charge call than both teams’ fans did.

Nobody from Dixie Heights scored more than the nine points of Samantha Berman and Coralee Pelfrey as the Colonels hit on just 31.0 percent (14-45) of their field goal attempts.

Holy Cross, thanks to the ability to get the ball inside, hit on 20 of 42 (47.6 percent). Indians’ defenders also picked off 10 steals to Dixie’s three.

“I think winning the All “A” championship helped us,” Wimzie said even though teams often have to handle the downside of that mid-season boost in the final month of the season.

“I think we did, too,” Wimzie said despite winning 13 of their last 15 games.

And they handled the downside of losing in the district finals against a Notre Dame team they had beaten during the regular season.

And now they live to play another day, against a fellow district-losing Ryle team that beat district-winner Highlands in Sunday’s final game.

Call it two-to-tango time in Friday’s second-chance semifinals.

Lady Raider Quinn Eubank made sure of that with her 18-point, eight-rebound, six-assist performance in leading Ryle to a 51-42 win over a hang-tough Highlands team.

“We all had to step up,” Eubank said of the way Highlands defended Ryle’s leading scorer Abby Holtman. “There was definitely some pressure” from a Highlands team with 6-4 Marissa Green, who added six blocked shots to her 14 points. “Marissa does a great protecting the rim,” Haitz said.

But with Holtman drawing the defense to her, that opens the game for players who can drive the ball like Eubank. Center Sarah Baker added 11 points, with Jaelyn Jones scoring eight and Austin Johnson six.

Ryle’s Quinn Eubank challenges Highlands’ Marissa Green inside. (Photo by Dale Dawm)

As for coming in here after losing the district to Cooper for the second straight season, “It’s definitely made our team strong,” Eubank said.

It’s made them something else. “We’re looked at as the underdog,” she said of Ryle’s former status as the overdog now that top-ranked Cooper is rolling the way it is. “Now that there’s a certain team everybody is picking to win,” she said without mentioning the team from the other side of Union by name.

Haitz wouldn’t say that after her seventh straight quarterfinal win in the Ninth Region first round. While actually saying “Cooper,” and noting that “they’ve done a wonderful job over there,” but “we’re not looking at them.”

It’s Holy Cross that’s the concern now, Haitz said. And with five days to rest up and get ready, she praised the Indians’ depth. “Holy Cross is a good team.”

That this will be a matchup of two district-losing teams making the most of their second chances, “I think it’s pretty cool,” Eubank said, “neither of us has anything to lose.”

In effect, they’re playing with house money.

Ryle jumped up by as much as 11, 38-27, in the third quarter but Highlands kept coming back led by the shooting of Adrienne Harris’ 14 points with 12 of those coming on four three-pointers. Twice in the fourth quarter, Highlands closed to within three, 40-37 and 42-39.

“We finally started controlling the tempo of the game,” Haitz said of a strategy different from that employed in the district championship game against Cooper when the Raiders tried to speed things up.

Ryle’s Sarah Baker wide open for a jumper. (Photo by Dale Dawn)

“It all depends on what’s going on with the clock,” Haitz said. With the lead, and Highlands in a zone, Ryle was very willing to hold the ball, work the clock and make Highlands come out to defend them. And put them on the line where Ryle converted five of their last seven.

And now they move on to the 8 p.m. game Friday.

BOX SCORES
HOLY CROSS 15-8 1518-56
DIXIE HEIGHTS 9 15 7 9—40
HOLY CROSS (26-7): Hunt 6, Hayes 1, Wimzie 10, Bottom 0, Arlinghaus 9, Lewsi 15, Williams 7, Nelson 8, TOTAL: 56.
DIXIE HEIGHTS (25-7): Thelen 2, Steczynski 7, Elkins 6, Brooks 4, Berman 9, Pelfrey 9, Buddenbuerg 3, Crawford 0, TOTAL: 40.

RYLE 8 20 12 11–51

HIGHLANDS 10 12 13 7–42< RYLE  (22-8): Eubank 18, Jones 8, Baker 11, Holtman 6, Johnson 6, Carrigan 2, E. Fong 0, Snider 0, TOTAL 51.

HIGHLANDS (23-8): Bucher 1, Ad. Harris 14, Green 14, Al. Harris 5, Mills 3, Macke 5, Barber 0, Hinegardner 0, Elkins 0, TOTAL: 42. 


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *