Can your priest hit a half-court shot? Theirs can.
Each home game, Covington Catholic lets a few students have a go at trying to make a half-court shot. And each time, Father Michael Hennigen, their chaplain, takes a turn.
The students usually miss, of course. But Father Hennigen’s got some game.
Friday, with the Colonel Athletic Network camera on and its play-by-play team on the mic, Father Hennigen stepped into his final attempt and nailed it to raucous cheers and a court storming by the student section.
“Oooh, Father Hennigen hit the half-court shot!” color commentator Dan Shields screamed as the student section swarmed their priest on the floor, like they’d won a state title.
The game against Newport was being played before a packed house at Covington Catholic. The student section, trying to encourage Father Hennigen, stood up and began bouncing and chanting ahead of his last attempt. The whole thing was captured and posted on Covington Catholic’s basketball Twitter account. The video clip had more than 21,100 views by Saturday morning.
“Can your priest hit a half-court shot?” the tweet asked.
“So every home game, they select a group of students to shoot a half-court shot. Father always takes the last shot and in my couple years he’s hit it a few times ... just finally had it on video,” explained Covington Catholic Network broadcaster Paul Fritscher, the play-by-play voice of the Colonels who edited and posted the clip.
It’s all just for fun. “It was a packed house tonight so the guys were a little more energized,” Fritschner said.
It’s nothing new for the Covington Catholic chaplain. He hit one last year when the Colonels hosted Madison Central.
Covington Catholic defeated Newport 68-56.
This story was originally published January 11, 2020 at 10:13 AM.
