By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The Highlands Bluebirds defeated the team that snapped their season-opening 14-game winning streak in the semifinals of the 9th Region boys basketball tournament on Monday. Now they get a rematch with the team that handed them their worst loss of the season.
It will be Highlands vs. Covington Catholic in the regional championship game at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at BB&T Arena. Both teams are coming off impressive semifinal wins with the Bluebirds knocking off Conner, 66-49, and the Colonels posting a 74-51 victory over St. Henry on Monday.
CovCath (28-5) has beaten every 9th Region team it faced this season by a wide margin, including a 65-39 win over Highlands (28-3) on Feb. 1. If the Colonels win Tuesday’s game, they’ll walk off with the regional championship trophy for the third straight year.
“They’re super good,” said Highlands coach Kevin Listerman. “They’re the champs and somebody’s got to step up and make some plays (against them), and it might as well be us. At this point, there’s nobody else left. We’re going to go out and play the way we’re capable of playing and let the chips fall where they may.”
This is the first time since 2001 that the Bluebirds have been in the title game. They got there behind the scoring ability of junior guard Sam Vinson, who had 25 points in the semifinal win over Conner after putting up 31 points in a first-round win over Dixie Heights.
Vinson also had eight rebounds four blocks, three assists and three steals to help his team get a measure of revenge against a Conner team that had won 17 in a row.
“They were our first loss this year and we wanted to get back at them and end their winning streak,” said Vinson, who pushed his career scoring total past the 1,000 mark in the victory.
When asked about the rematch with CovCath, Vinson said his team is “excited to get at them,” even though the Bluebirds were held to a season-low 39 points the last time they met.
“We can’t struggle with our shots this time,” Vinson said. “We’ve to got stay confident and don’t get nervous when they come at us with their (defensive) pressure. We just have to go out and play our ball game and do our thing.”
Highlands shot 48 percent (22 of 45) from the field and made 14 of 15 free throws in the win over Conner. Vinson was one of his team’s three double-figure scorers along with junior forward Luke Muller (17) and senior guard Hunter Ahlfeld (14).
The Bluebirds took control of the game with a 15-7 run in the final four minutes of the third quarter that opened up a 47-35 lead. Conner cut the margin to nine points, 56-47, late in fourth quarter before Highlands ended the game with a 10-2 run.
Vinson was 9 of 17 from the field. He hit a couple of 3-point shots, but most of his scoring came on strong drives to the basket.
“(Coach) just tells me to do my thing and if it’s a shot for me, it’s a shot for me,” Vinson said. “If it’s letting someone else get a shot, I’ll help them get a shot too.”
Conner ended up shooting 37.7 percent (17 of 45) from the field and was outscored, 24-15, from behind the 3-point line. The Cougars’ only double-figure scorer was senior guard Jalen Scott with 24 points.
CovCath’s offensive execution in the win over St. Henry was very impressive. The Colonels shot 62.5 percent (30 of 48) from the field with 22 assists and had four consecutive slam dunks in the fourth quarter. They were also 7 of 11 from 3-point range with six different players hitting treys.
On the defensive end, CovCath had a 22-8 rebounding advantage under St. Henry’s basket with seven steals and four blocks. The Crusaders’ top scorer was Jude Bessler with 13 points.
Senior center Neil Green scored a game-high 19 points for the Colonels while senior guard Grant Disken had 16 points and eight assists. That inside-outside combination accounted for half of the team’s 30 field goals, making 15 of 21 for 71.4 percent.
“It’s everybody knowing when to shoot he ball and knowing when to pass the ball,” Disken said of his team’s offensive execution. “It’s about knowing your role. That’s part of being a system player like we have at CovCath.”
The Colonels adhere to that system so well that they have one of the state’s leading team field goal percentages at 53.7. If they shoot the ball that well in the regional final, it’ll be hard to keep them from winning a third consecutive title and returning to the state tournament.
“It’s been on my mind since the end of last season, how to get back,” Disken said. “I don’t have any doubt that we’ll go out there (Tuesday) with full force and be ready for whatever comes at us.”
CovCath and Highlands are the only local boys basketball teams remaining in the post-season playoffs. Brossart and Campbell County were both eliminated in the 10th Region semifinals on Monday.
George Rogers Clark defeated Brossart, 58-45, and Montgomery County knocked off two-time defending champion Campbell County, 76-59. The Brossart players named to the all-tournament team were Carson Schirmer and Ethan Eilerman. They were joined by Jordan Gross and Aydan Hamilton of Campbell County.
COVCATH 16 17 21 20 — 74
ST. HENRY 9 8 14 20 — 51
COVCATH (28-5): Disken 6 2 16, Stocks 1 1 3, Green 9 1 19, Hupmann 5 0 10, Murphy 3 0 5, Moser 1 2 5, Hrycak 1 0 3, McHale 1 1 3, Sommerkamp 2 0 5, Jackson 1 0 3, Skinner 1 0 2. Totals: 30 7 74.
ST. HENRY (25-5): Conner Shea 4 0 9, Corey Shea 1 2 5, Butler 3 1 8, Ravenscraft 1 0 2, Teeten 1 0 2, Vieth 4 0 9, Maher 1 1 3, Bessler 5 1 13. Totals: 20 5 51.
3-pointers: CC — Disken 2, Murphy, Moser, Hrycak, Sommerkamp, Jackson. SH — Bessler 2, Conner Shea, Corey Shea, Vieth, Butler.
CONNER 17 7 11 14 — 49
HIGHLANDS 14 14 19 19 — 66
CONNER (23-6): Osterbur 0 3 3, Hicks 1 1 3, Bowles 3 2 9, Scott 8 4 24, Skiles 4 0 8, Couzins 1 0 2. Totals: 17 10 49.
HIGHLANDS (28-3): Delagrange 1 0 2, Vinson 9 5 25, Barth 2 2 8, Muller 5 5 17, Ahlfeld 5 2 14. Totals: 22 14 66.
3-pointers: C — Scott 4, Bowles. H — Vinson 2, Muller 2, Barth 2, Ahlford 2.
Q.Could you get a list of 9th Region Boys and Girls All Tournament teams on your site.Haven’t seen one but I may have just missed it?THX.