NKyTribune staff
Covington Catholic’s reign of dominance in the 9th Region Tournament ended Monday night as St. Henry pulled out a last-second 61-60 victory over the Colonels in the first round at Holmes High School.
Cody Teten’s basket with 5.4 seconds remaining gave St. Henry a 61-60 lead. Following a timeout, CovCath was forced to go the length of the court and Evan Ipsaro’s 21-foot running jumper was blocked by Wyatt Vieth at the buzzer.
Cody Teten (34) powers his way inside for a basket with 5.4 seconds remaining to give St. Henry a 61-60 lead over CovCath. (Photo by Dale Dawn)
Teten finished with 16 points as the Crusaders eliminated three-time defending 9th Region Tournament champion CovCath. Vieth added 15 points for St. Henry, which improved to 18-3 and advanced to Wednesday night’s regional semifinals against Highlands.
St. Henry entered the game ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press state poll, while CovCath was ranked No. 3. It marked the second time this season that St. Henry defeated CovCath by a 61-60 score. The Crusaders also pulled out a 61-60 triumph on Feb. 23.
St. Henry built a 39-31 lead in the third quarter, but CovCath rallied behind Ipsaro’s seven points to pull with 41-38 going into the final period.
Ipsaro’s 3-pointer capped a 14-6 run and gave CovCath a 52-47 lead, but Cory Shea responded by draining a trey while being fouled with 3:54 left on the clock. Shea converted the free throw to cut the CovCath lead to 52-51.
After Ipsaro hit a pair of free throws with 2:27 remaining to extend the CovCath lead to 58-54, Shea again knocked down a 3-pointer to make it a 58-57 game at the 2:13 mark.
Vieth converted two free throws with 1:15 left to give St. Henry a 59-58 advantage. Donovan Stocks missed a shot with less than a minute remaining that St. Henry rebounded, but Vieth stepped on the sideline with 42 seconds remaining to give CovCath possession.
Ipsaro drove the lane for a layup that gave CovCath a 60-59 lead with 17 seconds left, but Teten countered by powering his way inside for a basket to send St. Henry to the regional semifinals.
Ipsaro finished with a game-high 32 points for CovCath, which won the 35th District Tournament championship last week. The Colonels closed the season with a 24-4 record.
Wyatt Vieth (right) blocks Evan Ipsaro’s running jumper at the buzzer to preserve St. Henry’s 61-60 win over CovCath on Monday night. (Photo by Dale Dawn)
Shea scored 10 points — all in the fourth quarter — to key St. Henry’s rally. Jude Bessler added eight points and four assists for the Crusaders, who converted 46 percent of their shots from the field.
CovCath center Mitchell Rylee, in foul trouble much of the game, finished with eight points, six rebounds and three blocked shots. Chandler Starks added six points, seven rebounds and three blocks for the Colonels, who shot 55.8 percent from the field. Stocks hauled in a team-best eight rebounds for CovCath, which won the battle of the boards by a 25-23 margin.
St. Henry — which has won two straight All “A” Classic titles — finished with 15 assists and was 9-for-13 at the free-throw line. Vieth added four assists, two blocks and two steals, while Teten grabbed a team-leading eight rebounds.
CovCath entered the regional tournament having won eight straight games and 17 of its past 18 contests. The Colonels’ only loss in that stretch was the 61-60 decision at St. Henry on Feb. 23.
Prior to Monday night, the last team to defeat CovCath in the 9th Region Tournament was Cooper on March 6, 2017, when the Jaguars posted a 51-38 win over the Colonels at BB&T Arena.
St. Henry will now face a Highlands squad that has won 15 consecutive games. The Bluebirds (24-4) rolled to a 104-62 victory over Ryle on Monday night in another first-round regional contest at Fort Thomas.
•CONNER 76, HOLY CROSS 71: Conner made 11 of its final 12 free throws to secure the first-round win in the 9th Region Tournament at Hebron. Conner senior guard Riley Osterbur finished with a team-high 28 points. Sophomore guard Jacob Meyer netted 29 points to lead Holy Cross.
Conner (16-6) made 11 3-point shots in the first half and held a 42-30 lead at the break. After the Cougars extended the margin to 45-32 early in the third quarter, Holy Cross (14-10) went on a 19-2 run to move ahead 51-47. But Conner scored on back-to-back possessions to make it 51-51 going into the fourth quarter.
St. Henry’s Jude Bessler (left) attempts a shot against CovCath’s Mitchell Rylee. (Photo by Dale Dawn)
Midway through the fourth quarter, Conner took a 65-55 lead on a basket by senior guard Spencer Couzins, who finished with 24 points. Holy Cross rallied once again and cut it to 67-65 on a 3-point goal by Meyer with 1:47 remaining. The Cougars ran off six straight points at the free-throw line to open up a 73-65 lead.
Holy Cross made back-to-back 3-pointers to make it a two-point game at 73-71 with 22 seconds left, but Osterbur converted three more free throws to seal the win.
Conner will play Dixie Heights (21-5) in a regional semifinal game at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at Holmes. Dixie Heights cruised to a 73-43 win over Newport on Monday night in the other first-round game.
•COLLINS 73, WALTON-VERONA 70 (OT): Collins scored eight straight points in the overtime period to take a 69-64 lead and held on for the win against Walton-Verona in the 8th Region Tournament at Henry County.
In the final seconds of the fourth quarter, Walton-Verona senior guard Conner Davis was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws to tie the score at 59-59 at and send the game into overtime.
Three of the four field goals the Bearcats made during the extra period were 3-pointers, but Collins offset that by scoring 14 points on its final seven possessions.
Walton-Verona ended the season with a 15-15 record. Collins takes a 13-8 record into a semifinal game against Oldham County.
•CAMPBELL COUNTY 71, BRACKEN COUNTY 64 (2OT): Campbell County sophomore forward Aydan Hamilton made a field goal and five free throws in the final 40 seconds of the second overtime period Monday night to give his team the victory in the opening game of the 10th Region Tournament at the Mason County Fieldhouse.
The score was tied at 61-61 after Bracken County missed a last-second shot in the first overtime. With one minute left in the second overtime, the Polar Bears tied the score once again at 64-64.
Hamilton then scored the game’s final seven points to win it for the Camels. He finished with a team-high 22 points. Bracken County freshman guard Blake Reed took game-high honors with 39 points.
Campbell County will meet Montgomery County Friday at 5 p.m. in the 10th Region Tournament semifinals.
CovCath’s Evan Ipsaro (13) is tightly guarded by St. Henry defenders Jude Bessler (22) and Cory Shea (3) on Monday. (Photo by Dale Dawn)
