Raiders' win a long time coming

Team fights back for first tournament victory in nine years
Written by Marc Hardin, Enquirer contributor

Ryle weathered a hot start by Covington Catholic and won a Ninth Region tournament basketball game for the first time in nine years by rallying to defeat the Colonels 61-55 in overtime on Wednesday in the tournament opener at Northern Kentucky University.
Ryle (20-12), ranked fifth in the final Enquirer Northern Kentucky coaches' poll, rallied from a nine-point first-quarter deficit to force overtime against the seventh-ranked Colonels (18-12).

The Raiders, whose previous regional tournament win came against CovCath in the 2002 championship game with Justin Doellman, play second-ranked Newport Central Catholic in a 6 p.m. semifinal on Saturday. NewCath beat Ryle 65-61 on Feb. 14.

"The last two years, we've been beaten in the first round by the eventual regional champion and I think the guys decided this year they wanted to take another step," Ryle coach Alan Mullins said. "I'm happy for them that we were able to pull it out."

Ryle scored the first seven points of overtime and guard Zack Perkins scored eight of his 20 points in the extra period as the Raiders shot 10-for-12 from the free-throw line to finish off the Colonels.

To read the full story go to Raiders' win a long time coming

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