Sweet Sixteen title rematch a dud until thrilling final minute
Scott County was rolling against Covington Catholic. Then it wasn’t.
The Cardinals ultimately prevailed, 64-61, in the first round of the 102nd Whitaker Bank/KHSAA Boys’ Sweet Sixteen at Rupp Arena, after leading wire-to-wire in what was a rematch of last year’s state championship game.
BOX SCORE: Scott County 64, Covington Catholic 61
Covington Catholic — led by three stud seniors, among them Iowa freshman C.J. Fredrick — dominated top-ranked Scott County last season to win its second state title in five years. The Cardinals dominated in similar fashion much of Thursday.
Scott County started the fourth quarter with a 17-point lead and three players — Terrin Hamilton, Michael Moreno and Diablo Stewart — on the bench with four fouls. The Cards pushed their lead to 22 and led by 19 with 1:34 left in the game.
What happened next defies belief: Covington Catholic scored 18 unanswered points in 70 seconds to cut the lead to one, 61-60, with 24 seconds left. A desperation heave that could have tied the game went wide left, allowing Scott County to survive and advance to a quarterfinal bout with Butler.
The Colonels during their wild rally made four three-pointers, nabbed four steals, went 4-for-4 at the free throw line and converted a layup. Scott County over that period committed five turnovers and missed a layup.
Stewart, the Cards’ starting point guard, fouled out with 2:45 to play. Moreno, who Hicks described as his team’s best passer, was on the bench for the first eight points of CovCath’s 18-0 run.
“You saw how important Michael and Diablo are to us,” Scott County Coach Billy Hicks said. “When they’re out of the game, we’re very vulnerable to the press and you’ve gotta give CovCath credit, they seized on that. . . . Our guys on the bench didn’t handle the ball. We threw it away and threw it away and threw it away.”
Covington Catholic scored 37 points in the fourth quarter after putting up 24 through the first three. The Colonels scored only three points — a Grant Disken three-pointer — and didn’t score in the final 6:08 of the period. They also opened the third period on an extended drought, their first points not coming until the 3:28 mark on a pair of Michael Mayer free throws.
“I’m so proud of our guys to make it a game,” CovCath Coach Scott Ruthsatz said. “ . . . Sometimes you just come up a little short.”
Scott County dealt with foul trouble the entire game, and the fouls racked up for CovCath in the second half. Hamilton also fouled out for the Cardinals while Nick Thelen and Jay Jackson eventually did for the Colonels. The teams combined for 48 fouls and 58 free-throw attempts.
The Cardinals shot more free throws (26 of 33) than field goals (16 of 32).
“The game was really physical,” Scott County guard Lorenzo Williams said. “We were all in foul trouble but we just got to keep playing hard.”
Boys’ Sweet Sixteen
What: Boys’ high school basketball state tournament
When: Wednesday through Sunday
Where: Rupp Arena
Radio: All games on WWRW-FM 105.5 in Lexington and on numerous stations across the state
Video livestream: All games available on NFHSNetwork.com (subscription required)
Tickets: $17-$21 (Available at Rupp Arena Box Office or online at Ticketmaster.com or KHSAA.org)
This story was originally published March 7, 2019 at 4:20 PM.
