By Terry Boehmker
NKy Tribune sports reporter
The Holy Cross boys’ basketball team accomplished two missions with a 50-34 win over Beechwood in the 35th District semifinals on Thursday at Beechwood.
The Indians evened the score against a team that beat them on a last-second shot during the regular season and they earned a berth in the 9th Region tournament for the first time since 2003.
“Our guys were ready to go,” said Holy Cross head coach Ryan Schrand. “After the last time when we lost to them at the buzzer, they wanted to play them again. They were really focused the last five days in practice and you could tell that (Thursday) by the way they played.”
To give his players an added incentive, Schrand said he wrote “2003” on the locker room chalkboard before the game to remind them how long it has been since a Holy Cross made it to the 9th Region tournament.
With that on their minds, the Indians took the lead early in the first quarter and stayed on top the rest of the way. They ended up shooting 55 percent (16 of 29) from the field compared to Beechwood’s 32.5 percent (13 of 40).
“They had a nice defensive plan on us and we couldn’t stay close enough,” said Beechwood coach Erik Goetz. “That’s all we had to do was stay close enough because once we had to chase them it was trouble for us.”
Holy Cross had a 21-13 lead at the end of the first half and extended it to 30-18 in the third quarter. Beechwood was 1-for-11 from the field in the third quarter and the one basket didn’t come until the final seconds.
The Tigers opened the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run that trimmed the margin to 30-23 and it looked like the momentum might shift when Holy Cross senior forward Tyler Bezold went to the bench after picking up his fourth foul.
But Bezold’s replacement, senior forward Alex Hacker, swished a 3-point shot from the left corner to ignite another run that put Holy Cross ahead, 37-23, with less than five minutes remaining.
The Indians got the rest of their points at the free throw line, making 13 of 18 in the last four minutes to nail down the victory.
Bezold made three of those free throws and finished with a game-high 14 point. The only other double-figure scorer was Holy Cross senior point guard Leighton Schrand, the head coach’s son, with 13 points.
Leighton is among the best perimeter shooters in the area, but he got four of his five field goals in Thursday’s game on drives to the basket.
“I prefer to take mid-range jumpers and threes, but I do have the ability to go by guys,” he said. “They weren’t helping that much (on defense) in the paint and when they were it just would be a nice dump-off to one of our other guys.”
Holy Cross (22-7) will play Covington Catholic (25-6) in the district final at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Beechwood. The Indians won the regular season game between the two teams, 73-68, in January.
“I feel great about it,” Leighton said of the rematch with CovCath. “We know we can beat them and they haven’t lost since we played them so they’re looking for a little revenge of their own.”
HOLY CROSS 15 6 9 20 – 50
BEECHWOOD 9 4 5 16 – 34
HOLY CROSS (22-7): Hacker 1 2 5, Schrand 5 3 13, Jacobowski 1 6 9, Zimmerman 1 0 2, Niehaus 0 1 1, Bezold 5 4 14, Barnes 3 0 6 . Totals: 16 16 50.
BEECHWOOD (15-14): Jefferson 4 1 9, Robbins 3 0 6, B. Toebbe 3 2 8, Huff 1 0 2, J.T. Toebbe 2 5 9. Totals: 13 8 34.
3-point goals: HC – Jacobowski, Hacker.