COVINGTON — Pine’s Raiders hung tough with Northlake Christian, but a fourth-quarter run by the Wolverines put the game out of reach in a 71-59 Raiders’ loss Wednesday in the District 10-2A Tournament at Northlake Christian.
Pine led 15-14 after the first quarter. The Wolverines took the lead for good early in the second period when they went up 19-18.
Until late in the game, the Raiders’ biggest deficit was 10 points at 43-33 with 2:50 left in the third period. The Raiders did a good job of continually coming back, but never could get back out in front.
Northlake Christian led 50-45 through three quarters, and Ty Galloway hit a jumper to open the fourth period to bring the Raiders within three points.
The Wolverines took a 56-47 lead with 5:54 left, but Galloway knocked down one of his six 3-pointers to make it a 56-50 game.
But after that, Northlake Christian went on an 11-0 run.
Matt Whelan, who had 16 points that included three 3-pointers, tallied the first five points of the run on a 3-pointer and a field goal. Jacob Herrington got inside for two and took a pass from Whelan for two more to make it 65-50 with 3:19 left and Brennan Cooley capped the run with a field goal. It was 67-50 with 2:47 left.
Northlake Christian’s biggest lead was 19 at 71-52 with 1:51 left.
Pine scored the game’s final seven points, as Trey Cooper hit a putback shot from an offensive rebound. Galloway hit for a 3-pointer and Cooper drove for two.
Pine will play in the consolation game against Pope John Paul II this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at Northlake Christian.
Cooper led all scorers with 30 points.
Galloway posted 24 points, including the six 3-pointers.
Christian Warren scored five points for Pine.
All three of those players are seniors. The Raiders have four seniors. The other is Dillon Morris, who was unable to play Wednesday because of the flu.
Pine coach Drew Meyerchick said he’ll miss all four of his seniors and praised each player.
“The effort and heart that Trey Cooper plays with, I mean it’s second-to-none. This year, I haven’t seen another player that can match him as far as giving everything, every single game,” Meyerchick said. “He hasn’t scored 30 every game by any means, but it didn’t stop him — maybe he had eight points one game, but he still had 20 rebounds. He’s been everything for me.”
“Having a kid that has the shooting ability like Ty Galloway, I mean, that’s always a blessing obviously. Losing them, not having them next year, we’re going to have to replace about 90 percent of our scoring, which in basketball, that’s what you have to do.”
Meyerchick complemented Warren on being a point guard in his first season playing, and praised Morris for his defense.
“(Warren) ran point for me masterfully under the circumstances. It’s hard to ask somebody who’s a first-year player to be a point guard because it’s like throwing a first-year football player out there and asking them to go be quarterback, so that in itself shows character,” Meyerchick said. “Dillon is the same way. He’s such a superior athlete. He’s a great baseball player. He is quick, can jump and is light on his feet. He was my best shooter for the first couple of games while Ty was heating up.
“He was tough defensively. If I told him that I didn’t want that guy to touch the ball, he made sure he didn’t. He was also one of my best rebounders. These guys really bought in early and never gave me any hassle or any negative feedback. The level of respect and type of character these four guys have is second-to-none.”
Herrington scored 22 points for Northlake Christian. Cooley put up 14 points and Sam Smith had 10.
Kyle Lazaroe posted seven points, and Nathan Newberry added two.