Aces fall in All 'A' semifinals

Jan. 29—Jacob Meyer poured in a game-best 37 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Holy Cross (Covington) to a 70-46 win over Owensboro Catholic in the All 'A' Classic small-school state tournament semifinals on Saturday at EKU's McBrayer Arena in Richmond.

Meyer, the state's leading scorer at 33.9 points per game, connected on 13-of-28 shots from the floor and sank all nine of his free throw attempts to pace the Indians (16-5) in their ninth consecutive victory.

The Aces (20-3), who were playing less than 24 hours after a grueling, quadruple-overtime victory over University Heights Friday night, were led by Luke Beickman's 13 points. Brian Griffith added 12 points, as well.

Holy Cross scored the first five points of the opening quarter to build a quick lead, but Catholic responded quickly — with Deuce Sims's jump shot putting the Aces up 14-10 with 1:53 left in the quarter. However, a 7-0 run put the Indians up 17-14 at the first break.

Holy Cross began pulling away in the second quarter, scoring 24 of the quarter's 32 points to secure a 41-22 lead at halftime.

The Aces opened the third quarter on an 8-0 spurt, with a pair of Parker Gray free throws trimming their deficit to 41-30 less than two minutes into the period, but the Indians closed the frame on a 13-4 run for a 56-36 lead.

Holy Cross pushed ahead by as many as 27 points with 4:01 left to play before closing out the victory.

For the game, the Aces made 17-of-39 shots from the floor (43.6%), 8-of-22 attempts from 3-point range (36.4%) and 4-of-6 free throws (66.7%) with 18 turnovers.

The Indians, who also got 12 points from Javier Ward, made 25-of-50 shots from the field (50%), 5-of-16 from beyond the arc (31.3%) and 15-of-18 at the free-throw line (83.3%) with only five turnovers.

Holy Cross finished with the lead in paint scoring (37-6), points off turnovers (30-3) and fast-break production (19-0).

The Indians will advance to Sunday's All 'A' Classic title game to face Evangel Christian, which defeated Owen County 55-46 in the semifinals.

Catholic, which was making its seventh straight trip to the All 'A' Classic, reached the semifinals for the first time since 2006.

The Aces will return to action Tuesday with a home matchup against Madisonville-North Hopkins.

OWENSBORO CATH 14 8 14 10 — 46

HOLY CROSS 17 24 15 14 — 70

Owensboro Catholic (46) — Beickman 13, Griffith 12, Gray 7, Hopgood 6, V. Carrico 3, Johnson 3, Sims 2.

Holy Cross (70) — Meyer 37, Ward 12, Smith 7, Dreas 6, Gibson 6, White 2.