Great job by Coach Listerman. Had his team well prepared against a very very good Highlands team. Drew up some good plays to get easy baskets at crunch time against a very good Highlands press. The guy just keeps winning. Good luck Colonels.

Not a real shocker for anyone who has followed the 9th this year. Congrats to Highlands on a solid season.

 

NKY.com was stop and go but the part that I did see involved a bucket by CovCath, then Schmerge stole the ball from Highlands and scored right again for an and-1. 5 point swing that was huge! I think Schmerge was the one who scored the first bucket to, can anyone else recall this and confirm it for me?

Good luck CCH. You guys earned it.

From the looks of the webcast, there was a lot of standing around...

A lot of standing around by the guys doing the webcast too, Mark and J-Man!

 

They were literally in the student section. Did the entire broadcast standing in a corner.

 

The KRS Sports guys were stuck upstairs in a tiny corner, and I don't even know where NkySports were - perhaps upstairs in the opposite corner.

 

I'm sure that all of the broadcast crews will welcome the move to NKU next year. The sound system at Conner was horrible. They have a wonderful scoreboard which lists the players in the game, points scored, and how many fouls they have committed - nice touch. Only one problem - THEY DIDN"T USE IT - Didn't even put the invididual fouls up!!! If you are not going to fully utilize the scoreboard for the regional tournament - just when are they going to use it????

With all of the talk about how upset Coach Listerman was with the draw, I'm surprised the Colonels could even keep it close!

 

Congrats to both teams and good luck to the Colonels against St. Henry.

1st Quarter: The game started off as the Mitch Shover show as he scored seven of Cov. Cath’s 11 first quarter points. Luke Maile and J. D. Schmerge added the other 4 points for the Colonels. Highlands was paced by Greg Mcgraw and his 5 points. Nic Simpson and Zach Hurtt added the Bluebirds other 4 to create a 11-9 Colonel lead.

 

2nd Quarter: Highlands came out the aggressor in the second quarter as a couple of ties of the game and a 3 plus minute scoring drought highlighted the second eight minutes. Greg McGraw hit a three pointer to break the tie with 2:04 to go, but a Mitch Shover three pointer tied the game as the game went to halftime, tied at 20.

 

3rd Quarter: The scoring floodgates opened for Covington Catholic at the start of the 3rd quarter. The Colonels found this Luke Maile guy in the locker room and said can you play?? He had 8 points in the quarter including his last bucket that pushed the Colonel lead to 10 with 53.6 seconds to go in the quarter, 41-31. The Colonels would outscore the Bluebirds 21-11 in the frame to take that 41-31 lead into the final quarter.

 

4th Quarter: Highlands would not go down without a fight as Greg McGraw came to play in the last quarter. McGraw hit 12 of his 25 points in the 4th quarter including the three pointer that cut the Colonel lead to 4 points with 30.8 seconds to go. It would remain a 4 point difference when the final horn sounded as the Covington Catholic Colonels defeat the Highlands Bluebirds, 60-56.

 

Highlands ends their season with a 21-9 record. Covington Catholic will face St. Henry in the first 9th Region semi-final matchup on Monday night.

 

Scoring by Quarter:

 

Covington Catholic – 11 9 21 19 - 60

Highlands – 9 11 11 15 - 56

 

Individual Scoring – Covington Catholic

 

Michael Grimes – 16

Luke Maile – 14

J.D. Schmerge – 11

Mitch Shover – 10

Chris Bondick – 5

Chris Roll - 4

 

Individual Scoring – Highlands

 

Greg McGraw – 25

Nic Simpson – 10

Michael Eaton – 7

Stephen Kowolonek – 6

Zach Hurtt – 4

Ben Watson - 2

 

Shover's a good player, but it was Grimes who scored early for CovCath. Why let a little thing like facts get in the way of a game recap though.:banana:

A lot of standing around by the guys doing the webcast too, Mark and J-Man!

 

They were literally in the student section. Did the entire broadcast standing in a corner.

 

The KRS Sports guys were stuck upstairs in a tiny corner, and I don't even know where NkySports were - perhaps upstairs in the opposite corner.

 

I'm sure that all of the broadcast crews will welcome the move to NKU next year. The sound system at Conner was horrible. They have a wonderful scoreboard which lists the players in the game, points scored, and how many fouls they have committed - nice touch. Only one problem - THEY DIDN"T USE IT - Didn't even put the invididual fouls up!!! If you are not going to fully utilize the scoreboard for the regional tournament - just when are they going to use it????

 

:thumb: I thought the same thing! My son especially likes to follow along with points and fouls. There must have been a glitch because it was used during the girls district games.

This is not accurate......only the lady on this crew will be going to the Sweet 16.

 

:scared:

 

You mean the one who ate her whistle the whole night? I thought the refs werent that bad but they certainly didnt help Highlands on several drives to the basket where they had Colonels hanging on them. No excuse though, the Birds missed probably 4 or 5 bunnies in the 1st half that would have changed the momentum.

 

Congrats to CCH as they are a well disciplined team and they earned the victory. Grimes came to play and he was the best player for CCH.

 

McGraw showed why he is the best player in NKY. Drops three balls at will and elevates on jumper. Gets to the rim (even with colonels pushing him) and distributes the rock. I thought with the way Nic Simpson was playing (lackadaisical at best) they should have set double and triple picks for McGraw all night and let him get his 40.

 

Great effort by Michael Eaton as he had a very nice game for the Birds. Outside of that I was very disappointed that the Birds season came to an end like that. I think it was evident who had the better talent but also very evident who played the better game and that was CCH.

 

Kowolonek struggled in this game but he is a sophomore and he did win the last game vs. CCH as well as have a spectacular Soph season so kudos to him. Its just a shame that McGraw has the back issues because I really enjoyed watching him play and I think he has the ability to play D-1, not sure if anyone will take a chance on him though.

A lot of standing around by the guys doing the webcast too, Mark and J-Man!

 

They were literally in the student section. Did the entire broadcast standing in a corner.

 

The KRS Sports guys were stuck upstairs in a tiny corner, and I don't even know where NkySports were - perhaps upstairs in the opposite corner.

 

I'm sure that all of the broadcast crews will welcome the move to NKU next year. The sound system at Conner was horrible. They have a wonderful scoreboard which lists the players in the game, points scored, and how many fouls they have committed - nice touch. Only one problem - THEY DIDN"T USE IT - Didn't even put the invididual fouls up!!! If you are not going to fully utilize the scoreboard for the regional tournament - just when are they going to use it????

 

I agree, but I was in the rafters so I probably couldnt see it anyway. The sound system was horrible and hate to be critical but the announcer was subpar. For a big tournament they need to get someone with a better voice, someone with a deeper voice. He sounded like a DJ at a Country Music Bar.

I personally was very impressed with Highlands in past games in how unselfish they played. That was not the case in this game. The team stood around while Simpson and McGraw took turns going one on one. McGraw got away with it and had a good game but Simpson forced many shots. You can't do that against a well coached and disciplined CovCath team. Maile was the man in the second half. He really impresses me with his quickness and jumping ability. I thought he was a catcher!!

Because I had to work late, and the chances of getting a seat anywhere near the floor were nil and none, I listened to the CovCath Internet Radio Broadcast and tried to watch the game on NKY.com.

 

I think everyone in the Ninth Region can agree, that the move to THE BANK OF KENTUCKY CENTER will be the best move that the Ninth Region has ever taken. No doubt in my mind, that if this game had been played at THE BANK OF KENTUCKY CENTER you still would have had a full house.....

I personally was very impressed with Highlands in past games in how unselfish they played. That was not the case in this game. The team stood around while Simpson and McGraw took turns going one on one. McGraw got away with it and had a good game but Simpson forced many shots. You can't do that against a well coached and disciplined CovCath team. Maile was the man in the second half. He really impresses me with his quickness and jumping ability. I thought he was a catcher!!

 

The difference is McGraw knows when to take his man and not dribble between 2 players. He is also a threat to dish so most teams wont double because if they do they are toast. With Simpson he is definitely going to the rack with the ball no matter what and most teams can send everyone at him if they want. He is going no matter what with no intentions of giving it up. I know I sound very harsh on this kid but it is what it is and I am sure I wasnt the only one that noticed it.

Very disappointing game for the Birds. Hopefully a learning tool for the sophomores upon whom the success of the program rest for the next two years. Good luck to the seniors in future endeavors.

When the Crazies are on their game, there is no better student section in the state.

 

Have we discussed this before?

If not, can someone start a thread asking who the best crowds are?

:laugh:

Shover's a good player, but it was Grimes who scored early for CovCath. Why let a little thing like facts get in the way of a game recap though.:banana:

 

Should have known better!!! Sorry it was late.