CovCath defense shuts down NewCath in regional semifinals to reach title game once again

Shooting stats told the story after Covington Catholic’s 60-32 win over Newport Central Catholic in the 9th Region boys’ basketball semifinals on Saturday at BB&T Arena.

CovCath connected on a solid 47.4 percent (18 of 38) of its field goal attempts compared to NewCath’s 27.8 percent (11 of 41) and the Colonels rolled into the regional championship game for the fifth consecutive year.

NewCath’s shooting percentage actually dipped below 20 percent at one point in the third quarter and CovCath went on a 19-5 run to take a commanding 41-16 lead.

“They’re a great defensive team, they always have been,” said NewCath coach Ken Collopy. “They’re physical on the ball and contest every shot, so hats off to them.”

CovCath held 12 opponents to 41 points or less in the regular season, but coach Scott Ruthsatz told his players they need to turn it up a notch on defense to make a successful run in the playoffs.

“Even though we might have been winning, a coach has to get them ready for what’s ahead,” Ruthsatz said. “When it comes to elimination games, you’ve got to be locked in and it has to be all about defense.”

The Colonels will face another good defensive team in the regional final against Cooper at 7 p.m. Monday. When the two teams met in the regular season, CovCath pulled out a 55-52 win and the rematch between the top two teams in Northern Kentucky all season is expected to be just as close.

Based on state power ratings and coaches polls, the Colonels are favored to win Monday’s game and advance to the state tournament. But coach Ruthsatz doesn’t pay much attention to predictions.

“Once you get into tournament time, everything is off the table,” he said. “Everyone comes to play, and they play harder, they play longer or whatever the case may be. You’ve got to lock in and focus every game.”

The CovCath players certainly did that in the semifinal win over NewCath. In addition to holding the Thoroughbreds to their lowest point total of the season, the Colonels got the job done on offense. After getting off to a shaky start. they shot 60 percent (12 of 20) in the second half and led by as much as 33 points, 54-21, in the fourth quarter.

The CovCath scoring leaders were senior guard Cole VonHandorf with 19 points and junior guard C.J. Fredrick with 18 points. They made 14 of their team’s 18 field goals during the game.

The only double-figure scorer for NewCath was senior forward Luke Moeves with 10 points.  The other four starters scored a total of nine points and Brendan Luken came off the bench to get eight.

“We did a really good job scrambling around, picking up guys and making sure they didn’t get open shots,” said CovCath junior forward A.J. Mayer.  “They’re a really good shooting team and we took that away from them, obviously.”

VonHandorf had the team’s biggest defensive assignment. He guarded NewCath point guard Brennan Hall and held him to five points, 10 below his season average. Hall did not make a field goal until late in the fourth quarter.

“Cole is the the guy who knows you have to lock down (on defense),” coach Ruthsatz said. “‘Even though I know you can score points,’ I told him, ‘your assignment is Brennan Hall. We’ve got to keep him in check because he makes everything go for them. If you can do that, we have  a chance to win,’ and he did.”

COVCATH     8  14  19  19 — 60
NEWCATH    2    9    5  16 — 32