NewCath press too much for the Colonels

NewCath press too much for the Colonels

 

Handling pressure has been Dixie's Achilles Heal all year. Tibbs had a big night, but needed some help. Dixie played them even in the first quarter in their zone, when they switched to man, they could not match up and got killed off the dribble which resulted in fouls or lay ups. Dixie has a lot coming back. Their key players are sophomores and juniors. Papabear is proud of how Liza Tibbs finished her Dixie career tonight. She left nothing on the court tonight. Congratulations Liza and the entire Lady Colonel team.

Congrats to Liza on a great highschool carrer. Wish Dixie would have went back to the zone. I know everyone will say play ncc man they will shoot over a zone well I would have made them shoot over it..

"Awww shux". I was hoping for some upsets. Great season Dixie.

Congrats Dixie on being districts champs. Would have loved to seen a victory in first round of regions but wasnt meant to be. NCC played well, applied pressure took advantage of turnovers. Good luck Tibbs at the next level and thank you for leadership.

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS - Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbred girls basketball Head Coach George Stoll wanted to figure out ways to contain Dixie Heights standout Liza Tibbs.

 

On the other hand, Dixie Heights Head Coach and 2002 Highlands alum Tara Boothe-Smith hoped the Lady Colonels would handle the vaunted NewCath full and half-court on-ball trapping defense better than the regular season game on Dec. 10. The Thoroughbreds used it to win that game 51-36 in Crestview Hills.

 

Neither happened in Tuesday's 9th Region quarterfinal game at the Bank of Kentucky Center on the Northern Kentucky University campus. But the bonus for the 36th District runner-up Thoroughbreds is they shot the ball better making 22-of-49 shots for 45 percent on their way to a 65-48 victory.

 

"These past couple weeks, we haven't shot the ball as well as we have throughout this year," said George Stoll, NewCath Head Coach. "Like many teams, we had to go through some of those snow days. We've finally been able to practice for a week straight without any off days and I think it paid off. We shot the ball extremely well. If you don't get in the gym and shoot for three straight days, it adds up."

 

The defending region champion Thoroughbreds face Covington Holmes (29-2) in the region semifinals. The game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

 

NewCath ended up shooting 13 more shots and taking 10 more free throws because it recorded 14 steals off 19 Dixie Heights turnovers while yielding two steals on six turnovers. The Lady Colonels made 21-of-36 shots for 58 percent and 5-of-13 free throws for 39 percent.

 

That more than overcame Tibbs' double-double of 21 points and 15 rebounds. Tibbs also recorded five of Dixie Heights' five blocks.

 

"Our game plan was to make sure we pressured their guards and made it as difficult as possible for them to just get the ball inside and it started with our full-court press," Stoll said. "We got enough turnovers to get stuff in transition. We didn't do a good job containing Tibbs overall, but we knew that was going to be tough."

 

Dixie outrebounded NewCath just 29-22. The Thoroughbreds grabbed 12 offensive rebounds.

 

NewCath's three experienced starters came through big. Senior point guard Michaela Ware scored 23 points and recorded a double-double with 10 assists to go with five steals.

 

Thoroughbred junior Ansley Davenport added 17 points making two three-pointers with Loren Zimmerman scoring eight points. But NewCath also saw senior Hannah Daunt make two three-pointers on her way to eight points to help out the cause.

 

"I'm grateful for any minutes I get so I go in there and help the team by making shots," Daunt said. "Sometimes, the shots feel off. I have to make sure I'm balanced. Being a senior, it could be our last game so I wanted to help the team any way I could."

 

After Tibbs, no one scored in double digits for the Lady Colonels. Freshman Caroline Buddenburg scored six points in the fourth quarter on her way to eight points.

 

The first quarter was back and forth. Tibbe recorded an offensive rebound to put Dixie Heights up 14-13 with 23 seconds left before Davenport connected on a three-pointer from the left wing with two seconds left to put the Thoroughbreds up 16-14.

 

The Lady Colonels scored the first two buckets of the second quarter to go up 18-16. But Ware recorded an offensive putback and Davenport made a three-point play to put NewCath up for good at 21-18 with 5:50 left in the half.

 

NewCath began to pull away with an 11-2 run. That's when the pressure started to wear Dixie Heights down. Ware hit a lay-up in the final minute to put NewCath up 37-28 at halftime.

 

"I told them it was going to be close to start the game," Stoll said. "You just have to keep battling. The thing about the press is it not just wears on you physically, but also mentally. When you keep on doing it, you get annoyed if you're the other team. We finally got some things in transition. We just used our quickness to our advantage."

 

The Thoroughbreds then came out and scored the first seven points of the third quarter to grab a 44-28 lead. They led by 16 three times in the quarter. Daunt made another three-pointer with 26 seconds left to give NewCath a 51-36 advantage entering the fourth quarter.

 

The closest the game came in the fourth quarter was 15 points with 7:20 left. Tibbs had an offensive putback. The Thoroughbreds led 53-38 at that point.

 

Dixie owns two 34th District championships since Smith took over as head coach in 2011. The Lady Colonels graduate three seniors including Tibbs off this 15-14 squad.

 

Fort Thomas Matters Sports: NewCath pulls away from Dixie Heights in 9th Quarterfinals

Some photos from the game:

 

Some photos from the game:

 

 

Nice having some great photos of Liza's last game. Fabulous job as always.

Great job NCC on a great win. The 5 guard offensive is the future of high school basketball. It's the way of most successful aau teams. Now that the Tibbs era is over at Dixie it's time to turn it over to the guards and see what happens. Press and play fast is the future. Lets go win the region NCC!

Are you referring just to Dixie or all schools when you say an all guard team is the future of high school basketball? Tell that to SK, St Henry, HC and others who have big girls that make a difference in their teams success. So what do the coaches do with post/center players that have contributed to the teams success....bench???? If a team has all guard potential players then coaches plan as such, ask NCC.