Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The Holy Cross boys and girls basketball teams have a chance to make history on Sunday when they play in the championship finals of the Kentucky All “A” Classic state tournament at Eastern Kentucky University.
Teams from the same school have never won both titles in the same year since the small school state tournament was expanded in 1991 to include boys and girls brackets. The Indians put themselves in position to do that with a pair of double-digit wins in Saturday’s semifinals.
Holy Cross senior guard Jacob Meyer needs eight points in the All “A” Classic boys title game to set a tournament scoring record. (File photo by Bob Jackson)
Sunday’s championship doubleheader will begin with Holy Cross vs. Bardstown Bethlehem in the girls game at noon and concludes with Holy Cross vs. Evangel Christian of Louisville in the boys game at 2 p.m.
Holy Cross senior guard Jacob Meyer also has a shot at breaking a tournament record on Sunday. After netting 108 points in his team’s first three wins, he needs eight to surpass the record of 115 points set by Jeff Moore of Owlsey County in 1990.
Eight points will also put Meyer’s career scoring total at the 3,000 mark. The only 9th Region players with higher totals are Scotty Draud of Beechwood (3,128) and Brandon Hatton of Dixie Heights (3,045).
In Saturday’s semifinals, Meyer scored 37 points in his team’s 70-46 win over Owensboro Catholic. He got 29 in the first half that ended with the Indians holding a 41-22 lead.
Owensboro Catholic scored the first eight points in the third quarter to make it 41-30, but the Indians pulled away again with guard Javier Ward and center Sam Gibson getting 13 of their team’s 15 points in that period.
Owensboro Catholic was limited to 10 points in the fourth quarter and finished with its lowest final score of the season. The Aces shot a respectable 43.6 percent (17 of 39) from the field, but they had more turnovers (18) than field goals.
Holy Cross point guard Aleah Arlinghaus was the leading scorer in her team’s state semifinal victory. (File photo by Ted Jackson)
“It’s a credit to the kids for focusing and doing things the right way,” Holy Cross coach Casey Sorrell said of his team’s defensive effort in a post-game interview.
The Indians will take a 16-5 record and nine-game winning streak into the championship final against Evangel Christian (19-3). The Eagles have a good-sized lineup that includes 6-foot-3 guard Christian Doerr and 6-foot-11 forward Cyr Malonga, who are averaging 19.1 and 15.9 points per game.
“I know they’re good athletes and I know they got a lot of length,” Sorrell said of the Eagles. “We’re going to have to figure out what a good game plan is. Right now, I don’t know. It’s like solving a puzzle.”
The Holy Cross girls will be facing a Bethlehem team that’s returning to the All “A” state championship game after winning back-to-back titles in 2020 and 2021 under coach Jason Clark.
Clark and his staff have to figure out a way to handle the Indians’ intense defense that carried them to the 48-32 win over Pikeville in Saturday’s semifinals.
It was the lowest scoring total of the season for the 18-5 Panthers, who had only 17 points going into the fourth quarter. They ended up shooting just 24 percent (12 of 50) from the field and committed 12 turnovers.
“That defensive effort was phenomenal,” Holy Cross coach Ted Arlinghaus said in a post-game interview. “I think they were stuck on 11 points (in the third quarter) for what seemed like a long time. I don’t know what the time frame was between them scoring, but it felt like a long time.”
The only double-figure scorer for Holy Cross was senior guard Aleah Arlinghaus with 14 points. The Indians had a 21-4 scoring advantage at the free throw line and she made eight of them.
Holy Cross also won the battle on the boards, 39-25, with junior forward Julia Hunt getting 15 rebounds to go along with nine points and four blocked shots in the Indians’ seventh straight win that raised their record to 20-5.
HOLY CROSS 17 24 15 14 — 70
OWENSBORO CATHOLIC 14 8 14 10 — 46
HOLY CROSS (16-5): Dreas 2 0 6, Ward 5 2 12, Smith 3 0 7, Meyer 13 9 37, Gibson 1 4 6, White 1 0 2. Totals: 25 15 70.
OWENSBORO CATHOLIC (20-3): Griffith 4 1 12, Gray 2 2 7, Beieckman 5 0 13, Hopgood 3 0 6, Sims 1 0 2, Carrico 1 1 3, Johnson 1 0 3. Totals: 17 4 46.
Three-point goals: HC — Dreas 2, Meyer 2, Smith. OC — Griffith 3, Beickman 3, Gray, Johnson.
HOLY CROSS 13 9 14 12 — 48
PIKEVILLE 9 2 6 15 — 32
HOLY CROSS (20-5): Hunt 4 1 9, Arlinghaus 2 8 14, Hayes 2 1 5, Wimzie 0 4 4, Lewis 2 3 7, Nelson 0 2 2, Bottom 1 0 3, Williams 1 2 4. Totals: 12 21 48.
PIKEVILLE (18-5): Rowe 3 1 8, Whited 3 3 10, Thornsbury 2 0 4, Jackson 2 0 4, Alvin 2 0 6. Totals: 12 4 32,
Three-point goals: HC — Arlinghaus 2, Bottom. P — Alvin 2, Rowe, Whited.
ALL “A” CLASSIC STATE CHAMPIONS FROM N. KY.
(since 1991 when tournament expanded to include boys and girls brackets)
BOYS CHAMPIONS
2021 — St. Henry (coach Dave Faust)
2020 — St. Henry (coach Dave Faust)
2015 — Newport Central Catholic (coach Ron Dawn)
2014 — Newport Central Catholic (coach Ron Dawn)
2013 — Newport Central Catholic (coach Grant Brannen)
2012 — Holy Cross (coach Erik Goetz)
2007 — Bishop Brossart (coach Mike Code)
2003 — St. Henry (coach Dave Faust)
2000 — Newport Central Catholic (coach Ron Dawn)
GIRLS CHAMPIONS
2015 — Holy Cross (coach Kes Murphy)
2012 — Walton-Verona (coach Mark Clinkenbeard)
2010 — Newport Central Catholic (coach Ron Dawn)
1999 — Bishop Brossart (coach Ray Kues)
