By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
In his first season as head coach of the Covington Catholic boys basketball team, Jake Thelen developed an uptempo style of play game that suits his players’ athletic talents.
It’s working so well that CovCath raced past Dixie Heights, 75-36, in the opening round of the 9th Region tournament on Saturday at Northern Kentucky University’s Truist Arena.
“We were ready to go,” Thelen said. “Our whole key is we just want to dictate the pace of the game. We played fast and were aggressive defensively.”
CovCath scored a whopping 26 points off of 23 turnovers during the game. Most of the transition baskets came off 20 steals made by seven players.
“We’re not very big, we’re a fast team,” Thelen said. “We’re active on defense so we just want to get live ball stops and turnovers and get out and run.”
The Colonels did that so well in the second and third quarters that they outscored Dixie Heights 44-18 to take a 59-30 lead. During that surge, junior guard Cash Harney got a good share of his 20 points and nine assists.
Harney was also one of three CovCath players who had four steals during the game. The others were guards Teegan Stave and Athens McGillis, who finished with 13 points and eight assists.
CovCath junior center Donovan Bradshaw posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. He did all of his scoring in the first half when he was 6 of 9 from the field.
“Donovan has had a great year,” coach Thelen said. “He doesn’t get as much pub as those other two (Harney and McGillis), but he’s a difference-maker for us. He’s got a great touch around the rim.”
CovCath ended up shooting 52.5 percent (32 of 61) from the field compared to 42.9 percent (15 of 35) for Dixie Heights.
The only double-figure scorer for Dixie Heights was sophomore center Hunter Seng with 10 points to go along with six rebounds.
The victory gives CovCath a rematch with Cooper in a region semifinal game at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Cooper won semifinal games between the two teams the last two years and defeated CovCath, 69-65, in overtime earlier this season.
“We’ll be up and ready for the challenge and I think it’s going to be a great atmosphere Tuesday night,” Thelen said.
COVCATH 15 18 26 16 — 75
DIXIE HEIGHTS 12 8 10 6 — 36
COVCATH (24-8): McGillis 5-16 0-0 13, Harney 9-14 0-4 20, Gaiser 3-5 o-0 7, Carroll 1-1 0-0 3, Bradshaw 6-9 0-0 12, Stava 2-5 0-0 5, Kruer 1-1 1-1 3, Whelan 1-2 0-0 3, Ruthsatz 2-4 0-0 5, Lanham 2-2 o-0 4. Totals: 32-61 1-5 75.
DIXIE HEIGHTS (21-10): Metzger 3-5 0-0 7, Rubemeyer 3-7 0-0 6, Seng 4-9 2-2 10, Niehues 1-4 0-0 2, Grieme 1-1 0-0 2, Derry 3-7 2-2 9. Totals: 15-35 4-4 36.
Three-point goals: C — McGillis 3, Harney 2, Gaiser, Carroll, Stava, Whelan, Ruthsatz. DH — Metzger, Derry.