[kywldcat01]

Holmes wins the 35th district championship for the 3rd year in a row.

Stats:
Holmes
22/50 44.0% FG
05/15 33.3% 3P FG
08/16 50.% FT

CovCath
20/46 43.5% FG
01/05 20.0% 3P FG
02/09 22.2.% FT

Leading Scorers

Holmes
Pittman 21 pts, 10 rbs
J. Johnson 13
R. Johnson 11

CovCath
Wellbrock 16
Connelly 14
Thelen 8 pts 13 rbs

CovCath...10..09..12..12..43
Holmes.....22..09..12..14..57

I'll give a recap later.

[kywldcat01]

All tournament team:

John Pohlgeers: Beechwood
Marcus Lea: Holy Cross
Trevor Wellbrock: Covcath
Alex Connelly: Covcath
Elijah Pittman: Holmes
Ricardo Johnson: Holmes
Jeremiah Johnson: Holmes

Jeremiah Johnson earns MVP honors for the second year in the row.

[NYY10]

Congrats Holmes, bout what I expected!!

[jalfzou]

Holmes led by 8-12 points most of the game. CovCath closed the gap to 6 in 4th quarter a couple of times, but couldn't get any closer. In second half CovCath pounded the ball inside with good success, just like Boone did 10 days ago. That's a soft spot in Holmes' overall game. CovCath also scored a significant number of points off offensive rebounds. Hard-fought, intense game. Lots of fan noise. Gym was packed.

[justabballfan]

Congrats to Holmes on the win, about what I expected. It looks like Holmes was just waiting for post season to turn it up a notch. :Thumbs:

[kywldcat01]

Holmes 57 Covington Catholic 43

Covington Catholic 10 9 12 12 43

Holmes 22 9 12 14 57

Covington Catholic (17-12) -- Wellbrock 16, Connelly 14, Thelen 8, Riedinger 3, Wilson 2.

Holmes (23-5) -- Pittman 21, J. Johnson 13, R. Johnson 11, Rice 5, Mayfield 3, Slusher 2, Avery 2.

[Stardust]

I'm glad to see Holmes getting it together

[kywldcat01]

Game story from nky.com:

In the first meeting this season between the Holmes and Covington Catholic boys' basketball teams, the Bulldogs turned a close game into a rout with a fourth-quarter scoring blitz.

In Friday's rematch in the 35th District championship game, visiting Holmes buried CovCath in the first quarter, and the Colonels couldn't dig themselves out of the hole in a 57-43 Bulldogs victory.

Holmes hit six of its first eight shots from the field and shot 69 percent while taking a 22-10 lead in the first six minutes, then held off a late CovCath rally attempt.

"When you play from behind all night, it makes it doubly tough because you use so much energy to try and get back into it," Holmes coach David Henley said. "The hot start obviously helped us."

The Colonels never led and trailed by 15 points with 2:12 to play in the third quarter.

Though they were able to make it a two-possession game with 3:26 to go with a 14-5 scoring run bridging the third and fourth quarters, the Colonels missed all four of the foul shots they attempted after whittling the Bulldogs' lead to six points, and they made just one field goal in the game's final three minutes.

"I would have much rather it been like the first game, when we had the lead after the first quarter, but everything for them was falling," CovCath coach Mike Listerman said. "Elijah Pittman put up an absolute brick in the first quarter and it hit the back of the flange, and just died and went in. He had a little smile on his face when he came back downcourt and was probably thinking, 'This is going to be our night.' "

Pittman, who scored seven of his 11 points in the fourth quarter of Holmes' 57-41 home win over CovCath on Jan. 12, haunted the Colonels from the get-go Friday.

"I did kind of feel like it was our night," said Pittman, who totaled a game-high 21 points and a team-high 10 rebounds Friday. "Hitting those shots early brought out our confidence. Once I made those shots, we all made them. It was like a fever, and we all caught it."

Pittman scored Holmes' first two baskets, with one on an NBA-range 3-pointer, and had seven first-quarter points. He did not pick up one foul after sitting out much of Wednesday's semifinal game in foul trouble.

Jeremiah Johnson added 13 points and five assists for Holmes and was named the tournament's most valuable player. Ricardo Johnson finished with 11 points for the Bulldogs and also was named to the all-tournament team, along with Pittman.

"It's our third district championship in a row, so it feels pretty good," Jeremiah Johnson said. "Coach said we had to play good defense all 32 minutes. We kind of lost it for a few minutes when they got it down to six, but we got it back."

Holmes (23-5), the defending state champion and the No. 1 team in the final Enquirer Northern Kentucky coaches' poll, won its 10th straight game.

Trevor Wellbrock led the 10th-ranked Colonels (17-12) with 16 points and Alex Connelly added 14. Both players were named all-tournament.

Jake Thelen pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds, but Pittman limited the Colonels' post player to eight points. Thelen scored 18 points against Holy Cross in the semifinals.

The Bulldogs and Colonels advance to next week's Ninth Region tournament at Northern Kentucky University. Holmes will be the No. 1 seed and CovCath No. 2. They will be in opposite brackets.

"Our goal now is to play them again a week from Sunday in the regional final," CovCath's Listerman said. "But it's not going to be an easy road."

[kywldcat01]

Box Score:

Covington Catholic (17-12) - Wellbrock 8 0 16, Connelly 7 0 14, Thelen 3 2 8, Riedinger 1 0 3, Wilson 1 0 2. Totals 20 2 43.

Holmes (23-5) - Pittman 10 0 21, J.Johnson 5 2 13, R.Johnson 3 3 11, Rice 1 3 5, Mayfield 1 0 3, Slusher 1 0 2, Avery 1 0 2. Totals 22 8 57.

Covington Catholic 10 9 12 12 -43
Holmes 22 9 12 14 -57

3-pointers: C 1 (Riedinger). H 5 (R.Johnson 2, J.Johnson, Pittman, Mayfield)

[kywldcat01]

BTW, Holmes put on a dunking clinic last night.

I believe they finished with 5 all together...two from Jeremiah Johnson and 3 from Pittman.

[Strikeout King]

Congrats Holmes

[kywldcat01]

Dunks from last night:

(Click to Enlarge)

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[kywldcat01]

Other game photos:

(Click on photo to enlarge)

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[Aslan]

On pic 5, what was #15 thinking? lol.
Very nice dunks.

[kywldcat01]

On pic 5, what was #15 thinking? lol.
Very nice dunks.

We were thinking the same thing when Robinson (who was the state high jump champ in track and field) tried to jump with him....whole gym erupted with "ohhhhhhhhhhh" lol

I asked Pittman about the dunk after the game and he responded with "he tried to jump with me so he got what he needed." :Clap:

JJ also had a big two hand dunk over 6'6 Thelen that got the fans up out of their seats. (Pic #2)

[kywldcat01]

Post game interview with MVP Jeremiah Johnson:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuT0QFpzeAw"]YouTube- Postgame: Jeremiah Johnson - Holmes 57 CovCath 43[/ame]

[HolmesAlumni]

Way to go Bulldogs on a great win! It was an exciting game, and to give Cov Cath the credit they deserve....those boys never gave up the fight. It was a great game, and for once, the rivalry between Holmes and Cov Cath students cheering was classy as well.

[Dawg 81]

Holmes played very well throughout the whole game. I do beleive they will go back to Rupp Arena as long as they come to play. :flame:




:1: State Champs :1:

[fballjunky]

We were thinking the same thing when Robinson (who was the state high jump champ in track and field) tried to jump with him....whole gym erupted with "ohhhhhhhhhhh" lol

I asked Pittman about the dunk after the game and he responded with "he tried to jump with me so he got what he needed." :Clap:

JJ also had a big two hand dunk over 6'6 Thelen that got the fans up out of their seats. (Pic #2)

Actually Robinson was not the state High jump champ. That is Connelly #20.

Dunk was still very impressive, but not over the State High jump champ.

[kywldcat01]

Actually Robinson was not the state High jump champ. That is Connelly #20.

Dunk was still very impressive, but not over the State High jump champ.

Thanks for the clarification.

Robinson was the stud receiver for the Colonels football team.