I think it's fair to say that Keita has some problems communicating.

The group that I was sitting with from NCC seemed to find this a nice challenge for the Breds and entertaining yesterday. Cordia is a talented athletic team that did make mistakes, but IMO it was due to a number of adjustments that Coach Dawn had made by mixing up the defenses and by making very timely time out calls, helped play a big part in the outcome of this game.

 

The play of Weyer and McDonald today was very impressive. Weyer continues to get better as each game goes and he is maturing into a very nice player to compliment Schulte and McDonald. Knocking down the FT's late in the game shows this. The play of McDonald after a bit of a rough start was very impressive. Drew missed a couple of early shots early, but he made the necessary adjustments and in the second half seemed to just take over. As Randy P pointed out Drews touch around the basket is nice but there were other things that Drew did that help keep the Breds in the game. Down 4 late in the game Drew showed his range when knocking down the 3 when it was most needed in a pressure situtation and then very late in the game in OT he showed that he can play D also when he created the Cordia player to walk on a rebound on the NCC baseline which let to a key NCC basket. Its the little things like this that sometimes go unnoticed but have a direct impact to the game. The Moeves brothers are making their presence felt also.

 

While this was a entertaining game to watch, its easy to see that NCC is not hitting on all cylinders at this point and when they do look out. Good teams find a way to win the close ones in December and I feel by watching this game yesterday the best is still yet to come. Coach Dawn is one of the best when it comes to having his teams play their best at tourney time. He is allowing his teams to play thru situations at this point to season them for district and regional play and while at times the coaches in the stands may get frustrated with his game plan or on certain adjustments, Coach is one of the best in teaching the game to these young men. This group will be fun to watch as the season continues and IMO I feel there best ball is still ahead of them. No matter what the results are at this time of the year, I am sure that very valuable lessons will be taught and learned to prepare his team for the late season run. While regular season records are impressive and nice to have, all records go back to 0-0 when the district play comes around and it gets down to one and out.

 

Good luck the rest of the way!!

 

Agree with everything here, when I mentioned "painful" in my post, I'm referring to how this game compared to their previous games.....minus the 2nd halves of Ballard & PRP. Every team is going to "one of those games", I'm confident this Breds team is destined for lofty heights.

I watched the 2nd half online and it was very entertaining. The Cordia guards are as good as they get. They push the ball really nice, attack the rim and are very disciplined. They also shoot the 3 very well, especially from the corner. That last 3 attempt in the 2nd OT probably would have gone down if the kid didnt rush it and shoot fading out of bounce.

 

NCC guards never really seemed to get on track. Pangallo was saddled with foul trouble most of the game and Tanner Moeves ran the point well but didnt get many chances to attack the rim like he normally does. I thought Schulte played well on the offensive glass getting a couple huge stickbacks but teams are going to foul him on open looks as he seems to be an avg FT shooter. McDonald is money, this kid has improved immensely since last year. Weyer is also a nice surprise, he was not afraid out there as it showed not only on the FT line but on a nice drive and score late in the game at a crucial moment. Grant Moeves played solid defense and obviously made the HUGE FT to give the Breds the win. Outside of the first 6 I do not see any confidence from the Coach in any other player on that bench, well atleast in close games. They will need to develop one or 2 more players off that bench if they want to advance deep in the State Tourney, if they get that far.

 

This NCC team has great diversity in size/speed/shooting and very good Basketball IQ. They are going to be scary come 9th Region Tournament time.

NC boys 64, Cordia 63:

The Thoroughbreds (6-2) held off Cordia to open the Republic Bank of Kentucky Tournament at Lexington Catholic in double overtime.

NewCath’s three bigs led them in scoring. Drew McDonald had 23 with Jake Schulte and Ben Weyer following with 16 and 15 points respectively.

The Thoroughbreds take on Louisville Pleasure Ridge Park (7-2) at Noon today in a rematch of the King of the Bluegrass third-place game. PRP rallied to win it 78-70.

 

FORT THOMAS MATTERS: NC Basketball teams garner big wins