By Ed Letsinger

Top-ranked Covington Catholic will take on surprising Newport Central Catholic for the boys’ Ninth Region title tomorrow night.  That match-up was finalized after the Thoroughbreds beat Dixie Heights and the Colonels took care of Highlands in semifinal action on Friday night at Ryle High School.

NewCath (18-13) advanced to their first regional final since 2000 with a 60-50 win over Dixie (13-17).  Tied at 50-50 with 3:21 left in the game, the ’Breds outscored the Colonels 10-0 the rest of the way for the win.  Senior guard George Stoll drilled a key 3-pointer with 2:17 remaining to put NewCath up 53-50 and senior running mate Scott Gesenhues scored NewCath’s final seven points.  Dixie, after tying the game on a 3-pointer by Josh Keener, went 0-for-7 from the field during the deciding stretch.

The NewCath inside-outside combination of 6-6 junior center Zach Kiernan and Gesenhues proved too much for Dixie.  The pair scored 20 points each including 19 of NewCath’s 21 first quarter points with Kiernan scoring 15 by halftime as NewCath took control 34-22.  Gesenhues scored 10 points in the first and fourth quarters.

“The guards shot well from the outside which opened things up for me,” said Kiernan.  “And when I got the ball inside I knocked the shots down.”

A resilient Dixie team made a game of it with a 16-2 run to open the third quarter that gave them a 38-36 lead with 2:29 left in the quarter.  NewCath, which scored only eight points in the quarter, re-grouped and ended the quarter on a 6-0 run to re-take the lead. 

The lead changed hands five times in a back-and-forth final quarter before NewCath put the game away with their late run.

“We knew they were going to make a run and I’m proud of how the guys handled it,” said NewCath head coach Rob Detzel.

NewCath shot 46.8 percent from the field including 7-of-16 from 3-point range.  Dixie shot 39.5 percent from the field and was 10-of-29 from beyond the arc.  Sam Lawson (15) and Josh Keener (15) shared team-high scoring honors.

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Covington Catholic (23-6) started their game against No. 2 Highlands on fire and ended it that way in a 73-57 win over the Bluebirds (22-8) before a sold-out, standing room-only crowd.

The Colonels, trailing 34-28 early in the third quarter, went on a 12-0 run en route to outscoring Highlands 19-7 in the quarter and never looked back.  CovCath enjoyed leads as large as 20 points and put the game away with a 26-point fourth quarter.

Senior forward Danny Noll was a big reason why CovCath shot 54.3 percent from the field for the game including a blistering 65.2 in the second half.  Noll scored a career-high 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting including 5-of-7 from 3-point range.

“I just felt really confident,” said Noll of his performance, admitting that during pre-game warm-ups his shot was actually off.  “The first quarter I hit a few shots and just really got into the flow of the game.”

CovCath jumped out to a quick 18-6 lead with torrid shooting and a pressing defense that had Highlands reeling.  But the Bluebirds gradually got back in the game and a 20-8 second quarter gave them a halftime lead of 32-28. 

Highlands shot 59.1 percent from the field in the first half but only 28.1 percent in the second half.  Highlands shot a dismal 1-for-16 from 3-point range.

CovCath out-rebounded Highlands 35-26.  Junior Todd Jacobs turned in a solid all-around performance with 14 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.  Tim Tierney (11) and Billy Schult (10) were CovCath’s other double figure scorers.

Senior Jeff Vories scored a team-high 18 points for Highlands and Tanner Johnson added 14 points.

CovCath won the regional title in 2004 and was a semifinalist last year.  The Colonels defeated NewCath 63-45 back on Feb. 7.

The championship game is scheduled for Saturday night a 7 p.m. at Ryle High School.