By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Holy Cross outscored Beechwood, 26-11, in the fourth quarter to come away with a 78-60 victory in the quarterfinal round of the 9th Region All “A” Classic boys basketball tournament on Wednesday at Villa Madonna Academy.
In that final quarter, junior guard Jacob Meyer scored 10 of his game-high 45 points and four of his teammates netted 16 for the Indians. The run started with back-to-back 3-point goals by seniors Maddux Hoffman and Dylan Arlinghaus. A pair of baskets by junior Javier Ward put the team ahead, 66-54, with less than four minutes left.
Jacob Meyer (File photo by Dale Dawn)
Meyer scored 21 points in the first half, but Beechwood had a 28-27 lead at the break. With the score tied, 41-41, Holy Cross launched an 11-8 run to go on top, 52-49, entering the fourth quarter.
Meyer, the state’s leading scorer with a 39.5 average, also had a game-high 14 rebounds. He posted a double-double along with Arlinghaus, who had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Ward had 14 points and five assists for the Indians.
Beechwood’s leading scorers were junior Cameron Boyd with 23 points and eighth-grader Cash Harney with 15. The Tigers shot 39.6 percent (21 of 53) from the field compared to the Indians’ 47.5 percent (28 of 59).
Holy Cross (11-5) will play St. Henry (6-6) in a region semifinal game at 8 p.m. Friday at Villa Madonna. The first semifinal game will be Newport Central Catholic (4-9) vs. Dayton (8-5) at 5:30 p.m.
St. Henry won region and state championships in the small school playoffs the last two years.
The 10th Region All “A” Classic boys and girls championship games will be played Thursday at Bracken County High School. The matchups are Calvary Christian vs. Bracken County in the boys final at 6 p.m. and Brossart vs. Paris in the girls title game at 7:30 p.m.
Calvary won its first and only boys region championship in 2009. This season, the Cougars have an 11-4 record with a pair of senior guards leading the way. Ethan Mulling has team-high averages of 20.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Luke Ruwe is right behind him, averaging 18.9 points and 6.3 rebounds.
Brossart won the last three girls region titles and are one win away from extending that streak with three first-year starters in the lineup. None of the Mustangs have a double-figure scoring average, but they have a 10-4 record because they’ve limited opponents to 39.7 points per game.
All “A” Classic region tournaments
9th REGION BOYS
Friday at Villa Madonna Academy
Newport Central Catholic vs. Dayton, 5:30 p.m.
Holy Cross vs. St. Henry, 8 p.m.
Saturday at Thomas More University
Championship game, 7 p.m.
10th REGION BOYS AT BRACKEN COUNTY
Thursday
Championship: Calvary Christian (11-4) vs. Bracken County (12-5), 6 p.m.
10th REGION GIRLS AT BRACKEN COUNTY
Thursday
Championship: Brossart (10-4) vs. Paris (9-4), 7:30 p.m.
