Sunday, March 12, 2000
NewCath headed to Sweet 16
Dawn scores 31 in Ninth Region finals
BY BEN WALPOLE
Enquirer contributor
Newport Central Catholic junior guard Ronny Dawn is following in his father's footsteps and the trail leads to Lexington and Rupp Arena.
Dawn scored 31 points Saturday night to pace NewCath to a 52-38 win over Holmes in the Ninth Region final before a capacity crowd at Ryle High School.
The win, NewCath's 21st in a row, qualifies the Thoroughbreds for the state tournament (Kentucky's sweet 16) for the first time since 1984. They play Louisville Male, a 73-61 winner over Louisville DuPont Manual, at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at Rupp Arena.
Ron Dawn, NCC head coach and Ronny's father, played in the state tournament in 1973 and '74.
“I wanted so bad for him to get the chance to go play in Rupp Arena,” coach Dawn said of his son. “I told him how special it is — that it's worth all the hard work. I think he's seeing that now.”
Holmes, which entered the game on an 11-game winning streak of its own, shot well early and built an 11-4 lead. But Dawn quickly led NewCath back.
After assisting on two NCC lay-ins, he scored his team's next 11 points, including three 3-pointers. The last 3-pointer put the 'Breds up 19-16, and Holmes never regained the lead.
Holmes' Al Huff sank a two-handed heave from the NCC foul line at the buzzer, but it proved only a temporary break in the NewCath momentum.
Dawn sank his fifth 3-pointer of the game early in the fourth quarter to give NCC a 39-26 lead, leaving Holmes to play the rest of the game in desperation mode.
Dawn sank 8-of-10 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter and scored all but one of NewCath's second-half field goals.
“He's a very good high school basketball player, who makes very good plays,” Holmes coach David Henley said.
As good as Dawn ran the offense, the NewCath defense may have won the game. The Thoroughbreds held Holmes to just 30 percent shooting from the field, including 1-of-10 in the third quarter when NCC upped its lead into double figures for good.
“Once we got up on them, we were able to sag off them and help inside,” Dawn Sr. said. “We couldn't let them beat us with dribble penetration.”
NCC forced the Bulldogs to take outside shots, and Holmes struggled, making just 2-of-13 3-point attempts in the second half.
“Most of our shots during the win streak came off the pass,” Henley said. “Tonight, everything was off the dribble.”
NEWCATH (52) — R. Dawn 8 10 31, Bonhaus 0 3 3, Bacigalupo 2 2 7, Myers 4 1 9, Mayer 1 0 2. Totals: 15 16 52.
HOLMES (38) — A. Huff 6 1 16, Weaver 2 1 5, D. Jackson 2 0 4, J. Jackson 1 1 3, Hallman 2 0 5, Hill 1 0 3, White 1 0 2. Totals: 15 3 38.
NewCath ....... 13 14 9 16—52
Holmes ....... 14 10 2 12—38
3-pointers: NCC—R. Dawn 5, Bacigalupo. H—A. Huff 3, Hallman, Hill. Records: NCC 30-5, H 21-9.
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