Huge 35th district opening round matchup tonight between the Beechwood Tigers (21-8) at Holy Cross Indians (20-8). Game time is set for 7:30 pm.

* Covington Catholic will play Holmes in game one at 5:30 pm then they are clearing the gym for game 2.

** Holy Cross beat Beechwood back on Jan 16th (at HC) 62-51 with Beechwood winning (at BW) 58-46 back on Feb 6th. The winner of round 3 between these two teams guarantees themselves a spot in the regional tournament at NKU in a few weeks. if you can't make the game in person you can listen to all the live action on Holy Cross Radio starting at 7:15 pm. Who you got?

https://fan.hudl.com/usa/ky/covington/organization/15262/holy-cross-high-school/video

Not a fan of "clearing the gym" - I know people will say  the first game is just a formality but if you want to see both games it's a pain. JMO

If they don't clear the gym and people hang around from the first game this would mean that maybe a fan of Beechwood or Holy Cross wouldn't get in to see their game. The Finn Center only holds roughly 825-850 people. I'm not a huge fan of it either but in this case it makes perfect sense. We do have radio (audio only) available for people that can't make it or don't want to mess with the big crowd.

8 hours ago, Baseball Nut 24 said:

Holy Cross beat Beechwood back on Jan 16th (at HC) 62-51 with Beechwood winning (at BW) 58-46 back on Feb 6th.

Holy Cross defeats Beechwood a second time, winning 45-31.

8 hours ago, Baseball Nut 24 said:

If they don't clear the gym and people hang around from the first game this would mean that maybe a fan of Beechwood or Holy Cross wouldn't get in to see their game. The Finn Center only holds roughly 825-850 people. I'm not a huge fan of it either but in this case it makes perfect sense. We do have radio (audio only) available for people that can't make it or don't want to mess with the big crowd.

Please just have the district at Holmes, they have seats and parking.

As I have said for many years, with the close proximity of the 9th Region, just use the 4 biggest gyms and have other District Tournaments there every year. For example, the 35th could be at Conner 33rd at Holmes etc. That way it’s at a neutral court and the gym is large and rotate each year who the host is to get the gate money and the host school could keep the concessions. 
 

Now in regards to the 35th specifically I heard that in 2012 when Beechwood hosted the District at NKU Regents Hall someone had the idea of having it on a neutral court every year and the bigger schools didn’t want that so good for Beechwood and Holy Cross for hosting when it’s their turn.

Holy Cross led wire to wire in this one after starting out the first quarter on fire leading 21-7 after one. After that 21-point outburst the baskets were harder to come by the rest of the way as both teams defense really picked up. After Beechwood outscored Holy Cross 19-12 in quarters 2 & 3 the Indians still took a 33-26 lead heading into the 4th quarter. The Tigers would cut the lead to 33-31 after scoring the first 5 points of the 4th quarter but would go the last 6:45 of the game without a point. Big baskets late by Rominger and Arlinghaus and 4/4 free throws by Gabbard late sealed the win.

Holy Cross was led by seniors Nate Rominger with 17 points (7 rebs), Luke Arlinghaus 12 and Brady Gabbard with 10 points (8 rebs). The Tigers were led by Sophomore Dylan Topmiller with 15 points but was held to 4/18 from the field and just 2/12 from 3. I want to give a shout out to Amir Henderson, Braylon Thornberry and Aidan Urlage who all took turns guarding Topmiller all night. He is a really good player for Beechwood and tough to defend. The Indians advance to take on Covington Catholic on Friday night at 7:30 pm.

Beechwood  7 10 9 5 - 31

Holy Cross  21 4 8 12 - 45

Beechwood (21-9) - Topmiller 15, Brockett 8, McCormack 6, Stiles 2.

Holy Cross (21-8) - Rominger 17, Arlinghaus 12, Gabbard 10, Henderson 5, Thornberry 1.

Rebounds - Holy Cross 30 Beechwood 24

Fouls - Holy Cross 15 Beechwood 16

3-Pt Fg - Holy Cross 3/14 Beechwood 2/20

Assists - Holy Cross 8 Beechwood 7

Free Throws - Holy Cross 8/11 Beechwood 11/16

Turnovers - Holy Cross 6 Beechwood 9

 

Excellent, and much needed, win for Coach Johnson and the Indians. After losing a few games down the stretch, it's good to see HC rebound with a good quality win vs. BW. Obviously, it gets no easier having to turnaround face the top team in the state. Good luck!