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By Terry Boehmker
NKy Tribune sports reporter
Conner coach Aaron Stamm didn’t have the exact number of rebounds for his team after a 63-33 win over Dixie Heights in the first round of the 9th Region tournament on Tuesday at BB&T Arena. He’ll count them when he watches a videotape of the game and knows he’ll be happy with the final total.
“That was a key because Dixie’s bigger than us, ” Stamm said. “But we felt like our quickness could beat them on the boards and that was the key.”
The Cougars got a lot of second-chance scoring opportunites by getting offensive rebounds. Each time they scored, it put them in position to apply full-court defensive pressure and Dixie’s players had a hard time dealing with that.
That’s why Conner was able to outscore Dixie Heights, 34-10, in the second and third quarters to post its first regional tournament victory since 2008.
The game’s only double-figure scorer was Conner freshman guard Savannah Jordan with 11 points. The team leader for Dixie Heights was sophomore guard Caroline Buddenburg with nine points.
Jordan made both of her 3-point goals in the second quarter when the Cougars surged ahead with an 14-6 run. In the third quarter, they outscored the Colonels, 20-4, to put the game away. Six Conner players scored points in that quarter.
“They played hard, they were active, they were all over them place, ” Dixie Heights coach Tara Smith said of the Cougars. “As soon a shot went up, they were moving and we were kind of back on our heels a lot.”
Conner moves on to the regional semifinals and plays Holmes at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Holmes beat Conner, 62-45, in a regular season game on Jan. 21, but coach Stamm expects his young team to do better this time. The Cougars have had two seniors, one junior and two freshman in the starting lineup for most of the season.
“We played (Holmes) at our place earlier in the year and our freshmen were a little bit in awe of their pressure and athleticism,” Stamm said. “But we’re here as one of the final four teams and we’re going to play them as hard as we can.”
CONNER 10 14 20 19 — 63
DIXIE HEIGHTS 10 6 4 13 — 33
CONNER (22-11): Hurst 4 0 9, Jordan 3 3 11, Gambrel 2 1 5, Duncan 2 5 9, Frye 1 3 5, Watts 1 0 2, Hite 1 0 2, Mclemore 2 0 4, Burcham 1 4 6, Hendricks 2 1 6, Kennedy 1 0 2. Totals: 20 11 63.
DIXIE HEIGHTS (15-16): Perry 1 0 2, VonHandorf 0 2 2, Buddenberg 3 3 9, Grace 3 0 7, Davis 1 0 3, Douthit 1 2 4, O’Connor 1 0 2, McGinn 1 2 4. totals: 11 9 33.
3-point goals: C — Jordan 2, Hendricks, Hurst. DH — Grace, Davis.
SIMON KENTON 68, COLLINS 42 — Two sophomore guards in the Simon Kenton lineup scored a combined total of 46 points in the 8th Region first-round game to lead the defending champions to the victory.
Shelby Harmeyer made seven 3-point goals to account for most of her game-high 27 points and Ally Niece scored 19 points for the Pioneers. Harmeyer and another of her sophomore teammates, Megan Buckner, also pulled down 10 rebounds each.
Simon Kenton took control of the game with a 21-7 scoring run in the second quarter to open up 39-22 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Harmeyer scored 11 points to help the Pioneers extend their lead to 56-29.
This is the fifth consecutive year that Simon Kenton has made it to the regional semifinals. If the Pioneers get past Owen County at 8 p.m. Friday, they’ll advance to the regional final for the fourth year in a row.
SIMON KENTON 18 21 17 12 — 68
COLLINS 15 7 7 13 — 42
SIMON KENTON (23-5): Jones 4 0 9, Vickers 0 1 1, Harmeyer 10 0 27, Niece 7 5 19, Buckner 2 2 6, Zoeller 1 0 2, Meier 1 2 4. Totals: 25 10 68.
COLLINS (18-13): Murray 2 1 7, Federle 1 2 4, Pullen 2 3 7, Roberts 3 3 12, King 1 2 5, Renfro 0 1 1, Warfield 1 0 2, Hayes 2 0 4. Totals: 12 13 42.
3-point goals: SK — Harmeyer 7, Jones. C — Roberts 3, Murray 2.
SCOTT 69, NICHOLAS COUNTY 39 — Sophomore guard Alexis Stapleton scored 24 points to lead Scott to the first-round victory in the 10th Region tournament at Campbell County Middle School.
Stapleton scored 13 points in the first half when the Eagles took a 38-19 lead. The team’s other double-figure scorers were sophomore guard Anna Clephane with 13 points and freshman guard Summer Secrist with 12.
Scott shot 46.1 percent (24 of 52) from the field compared to Nicholas County’s 28.8 percent (15 of 32). The Eagles also had a 41-32 rebounding advantage and made 16 steals in the game.
Scott will play Mason County in the 10th Region semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Mason County, the defending regional champion, is riding a nine-game winning steak that includes a 74-66 victory over Scott on Feb. 11.
SCOTT 15 23 18 14 — 70
NICHOLAS CO. 8 11 9 11 — 39
SCOTT (19-12): Stapleton 7 8 24, Secrist 6 0 12, Clephane 5 3 13, Kallmeyer 1 6 8, Wagner 3 0 8, Brown 1 0 2, Profitt 1 0 2. Katinic 0 1 1. Totals: 24 18 70.
NICHOLAS COUNTY (15-15): Jolly 4 1 10, Martin 3 0 8, Hughes 3 1 7, Strafford 2 1 5, Howard 2 0 4, Myers 1 0 2, Flanigan 0 1 1, Derosot 0 1 1, Watkins 0 1 1. Totals: 15 6 39.
3-point goals: S — Stapleton 2, Wagner 2. NC — Martin 2, Jolly.