LEXINGTON - Covington Catholic’s draw in the state tournament had the Colonels playing the last game of the night for three straight nights.

The Colonel starters got a lot of rest Saturday night as they punched their ticket to the last game of the season with a surprisingly lopsided semifinal win.

The Colonels overwhelmed another set of blue Colonels, Oldham County, Saturday night. CovCath won 67-28 in the state semifinals of the Whitaker Bank/KHSAA Boys’ Sweet 16. CovCath (34-4) will take on Scott County (37-1) in the state championship game 2 p.m. Sunday at Rupp. Scott Co. beat Warren Central 75-46 earlier tonight.

More:Covington Catholic advances to KHSAA state semifinals behind 32 points from CJ Fredrick

“It definitely feels great,” said senior guard Aiden Ruthsatz. “It’s a testament to our schedule and our team, and our chemistry. It’s the semifinal game and we got a bigger one tomorrow.”

The 39-point margin of victory is the second largest in the semifinal round in Sweet 16 history. Central beat Greenup County by 55 (92-37) in 1974.

“What do you say. We played real well,” said CovCath head coach Scott Ruthsatz. “We moved the ball, we got shots, we looked inside, we got outside. Our defense was really good.”

CovCath shot 67.6 percent from the floor (25 of 37) and limited Oldham to 27.8 (10 of 36). The 67.6 percent is a new state record for a Sweet 16 game, edging Highlands’ 67.5 against Graves County in 1998.

CovCath forced 19 turnovers and outrebounded the opposing Colonels by 14, 28-14. CovCath also blocked six shots.

“That’s been a staple of ours all season long on the defensive end,” coach Ruthsatz said. “Scoring the ball is always fun. Defending the ball is not so much, but these guys have taken the task of being good defenders and rebounders, and after that we get off to the races. We wanted to set the tempo to very fast.”

Senior guard CJ Fredrick scored 22 points on 8 of 13 shooting. He had three assists and three steals. He has 79 points in three games this week.

Senior center Jake Walter had 10 points and four rebounds. Senior AJ Mayer had seven points and nine rebounds with five assists and two steals. Ruthsatz had five assists and seven points.

Eighth Region champion Oldham County, in the semis for the first time since 2012, finished 31-6. Point guard Jackson Gibson was 1 of 9 shooting for two points. Center Christian Harper led Oldham with eight points. He had his team’s first six points but missed most of the first half with two fouls.

“They did a great job of switching defense with their press and getting the ball out of Jackson’s hands,” said OC head coach Coy Zerhusen. “We made a lot of turnovers that we don’t normally do, and a lot of that was their length and how physical they are, getting in the passing lanes.”

CovCath closed the first half on a 13-0 run to lead by 18 at the break, 33-15.

Fredrick started the run with a jumper following an AJ Mayer offensive rebound on a missed free throw. Jake Walter scored in the lane. Michael Mayer scored on a short jumper. Fredrick hit two free throws. Ruthsatz hit an open 3.

On the last play of the half, Michael Mayer stole the ball the lane and got it to Ruthsatz, who sprinted to the hoop and got a layup in just before the buzzer.

The run completed a sloppy, frenetic half for both teams. Both teams turned it over 10 times. CovCath outrebounded Oldham 16-7 and limited the other Colonels to 6 of 20 shooting. CovCath had eight assists on its 11 field goals, three each by Ruthsatz and Fredrick. AJ Mayer had four rebounds in the first half and Nick Thelen five.

“Most of it is due to the scouting report,” Scott Ruthsatz said. “We have very detailed scouting reports on tendencies on what players can and can’t do, and they follow that to a T. All these guys understand matchups and what guys can do. If you take away their strengths, you live with the results.”

It was more of the same in the third quarter. Walter slammed one home on CovCath’s first possession and scored another basket. Then, he dished to Casey Nowak for a layup to give CCH a 39-17 lead.

Fredrick scored the next seven points for the Colonels, who led 46-21 with 1:21 to go in the period. CovCath extended its rebounding edge in the period by winning the quarter 8-3, and limited Oldham to 2 of 7 shooting.

CovCath scored the first six of the fourth period to lead by 32, 53-21, with under six minutes to play and pulled its starters. Jake Walter had four of the points, including a dunk, and Fredrick scored on a breakaway layup to finish with 22 points.

Senior Michael Collins hit a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. Senior Luke Thelen scored on a transition layup with 1:25 to go. Five different backup Colonels scored in the final minutes, with the starters getting on their feet and cheering with each one.

CovCath had 20 assists on its 25 field goals.

“The one thing about this team that is different than some other teams I’ve had is the unselfishness on offense,” coach Ruthsatz said. “CJ does tend to score a lot of the points and we run a lot of sets for him but he does well in passing. All these guys are. They’re always willing to pass up a good shot for a great shot.”

COVCATH (34-4): A. Mayer 1 5 7, Walter 4 2 10, Fredrick 8 5 22, Ruthsatz 3 0 7, Nowak 1 0 2, L. Thelen 1 0 2, Deere 1 0 3, Fleek 2 0 4, Collins 1 0 3, Davin 1 0 2, M. Mayer 1 0 2, N. Thelen 1 1 3. Totals: 25 13 67.

OLDHAM COUNTY (31-6): Henderson 1 2 4, Larimore 2 0 4, Harper 3 2 8, Brewer 0 1 1, Gibson 10 2, Benson 1 2 4, Teague 0 1 1, Dewitt 2 0 4. Totals: 10 8 28.

Halftime, CC 33-15. 3-pointers: CC 4 (Fredrick, Ruthsatz, Deere, Collins), OC 0.

ABOUT SCOTT COUNTY: The game is a rematch of the 2014 state final, won by CovCath, 59-51 in overtime. Scott shot 59 percent from the floor against the Dragons and limited them to 30 percent. Scott County had 24 assists on 30 field goals.

The Cardinals are an explosive team, averaging 78 points per game. Michael Moreno, a 6-foot-7 junior who has Division I offers and is a likely Mr. Basketball contender in 2019, averages 20.6 points per game.

Senior guard Cooper Robb, who will play for D-I Charlotte, averages 14 points per game. Junior guard Diablo Stewart averages 12 points a game and has 76 3-pointers. Junior guard Glenn Covington averages six points a game but came into the semis hitting 54 3-pointers. He has had a big state tournament from behind the arc. Starting guard Bryce Long averages nine points per game. Lorenzo Williams and Cam Fluker are also big off the bench.

The Cardinals have one loss this year, against Moeller in Myrtle Beach, 60-41 on Dec. 26. Scott County has played one Northern Kentucky team, winning at Holy Cross 78-51 on Feb. 14.

“Their guards are very good,” coach Ruthsatz said. “They have a great group of shooters so you have to get out on the perimeter, then you have Moreno inside, and he can dominate inside and he can also go outside. We have to make sure we control their guards. They’re really aggressive defensively and we have to address that in some of the sets that we run. They’re a very strong opponent.”

Scott County has two previous state championships, in 1998 and 2007. The Cardinals are looking to become the 10th program with three or more. CovCath will look to join the Cardinals as one of 18 with two or more. CovCath would be the only Northern Kentucky team with two or more, as the area has only won three: Simon Kenton in 1981, Holmes in 2009 and CovCath in 2014.

CovCath is in the finals for the third time. Besides winning in 2014, the Colonels lost to Earlington in 1967 on a shot with one second to go. Final score was 54-53.

CovCath has been in the semis two other times, 2004 and 2015. The Colonels have an all-time record of 15-9 in the tourney heading into the final.