article Inside the 9th Region (1/31)

With three weeks left in the regular season, the top 3 have pretty much remained the same, while one team has emerged a clear 4th best team in the region. Here are this week's rankings.

1. Covington Catholic (20-4)

After a bit of an upset loss to South Laurel, the Colonels have won 8 straight and seem to be clicking on all cylinders, despite being without leading scorer CJ Fredrick. This past week the Colonels picked up wins over Campbell County (71-53), Holmes (71-34), and Highlands (75-51). Cole VonHandorf finished with 23, 24, and 27 points in the three wins to not only break the all time Covcath scoring record, but also reach the 2,000 point milestone for his career. AJ Mayer continued to show why he is one of the most underrated players in the region, averaging 13 ppg last week, while Jake Walter averaged 9 rpg, including 13 against Highlands.

Up Next: 1/31 v Scott; 2/3 at Beechwood

2. Cooper (17-4)

The Jags continue to dominate 33rd district competition as they wrapped up the 1 seed with wins over Conner (70-52) and Ryle (69-35). Adam Kunkel led Cooper with 25 points in the win over Conner, followed by Blaine Walters with 14 points and Brayden Runion with 10 points. In the blowout win over Ryle, Sean McNeil returned from injury to score 12 points and also reach the 1,000 point club on a corner 3. Brayden Runion finished with 14, while Kunkel had 12 in the win.

Up Next: 1/31 at Newport; 2/1 v St Henry

3. Dixie Heights (20-3)

The Red Colonels clinched the 34th district one seed with a 59-57 win over Lloyd and won over county rival, Simon Kenton, 42-38. Tyler Schreck finished with 21 points followed by Hunter Meyer with 12 and RJ Schweitzer with 10 in the win over Lloyd. Schreck also led the Colonels with 14 points in the win over Simon Kenton.

Up Next: 1/31 v Holmes; 2/3 v Ludlow; 2/4 v Lockland, OH

4. Newport Central Catholic (14-8)

Despite losing in the All A Classic state championship to Paris (66-48), the Breds still had a solid week with wins over Highlands (62-47), Cordia (65-57), University Heights (62-56), and Russellville (61-51). Brennan Hall led the Breds with 17 points against Highlands, while Trey Wurtz was one rebound shy of a double-double (10 pts, 9 rbs). In the opening round of the All A state tournament against Cordia, Brenden Luken led all scorers with 22, while the guard duo of Hall (16 pts) and Luke Moeves (14 pts) combined for 30 points. Hall was the man for the Breds against University Heights with 26 points. In an overtime win over Russellville in the semi finals, Wurtz had 15 pts, 9 rbs while Luken had 14 pts, 13 rbs. Luke Moeves led Newcath with 17 points in the finals loss to Paris, followed by Hall with 15 points. Hall and Luken were named to the All Tournament Team.

5. Highlands (10-13)

The Bluebirds have lost 4 of 5 but considering two of those three losses came to Newcath (62-47) and Covcath (75-51), the Birds maintain the #5 spot in the rankings. The lone win was a district win over Bellevue (79-61), in which Jacob Noe and Bryce Traylor both scored 21 points each to compliment the 14 point, 13 rebound performance by Kyle Finfrock. Finfrock finished with 22 pts, 10 rbs in the Newcath loss and 15 in the Covcath loss. Noe and Traylor both scored 11 points in the loss to Covcath.

Up Next: 2/3 at Villa Madonna

6. Lloyd (14-9)

Sterling Hamilton led Lloyd with 19 points, 10 rebounds in a 59-57 loss to Dixie Heights and Isaiah Voet led the Juggs with 14 points in a 59-39 district win over Ludlow. In the Juggs final game of the week and first of five consecutive road games, Gallatin County picked up their second win of the season over Mike Key's team, 64-61.

Up Next: 1/31 at Villa Madonna; 2/3 at St Henry; 2/4 at Eminence

7. Ryle (12-11)

The Raiders went 1-1 this week with an 80-51 win over Carroll County and a 69-35 district loss to Cooper. Braden Cheesman had a game high 21 points in the win over Carroll County, followed by Deon Polk with 17 and Vince Rankin with 10 points. Cheesman (11) and Rankin (10) combined for 21 of Ryle's 35 points in the Cooper loss.

Up Next: 1/31 v Beechwood; 2/2 at Boone County; 2/4 at Williamstown

8. Conner (10-11)

A 70-52 loss to Cooper extended the Cougars' losing streak to 4 games, but they rebounded with 2 wins over Boone County (86-77) and Beechwood (67-51) to close out the week. Spencer Hemmerich scored his 1,000th career point on his way to 15 points in the loss to Cooper and followed that up with 24 points in the win over Boone. Travis Connley had 26 in the win over Boone. Hemmerich continued his strong week with 22 against Beechwood, followed by Connley with 15.

Up Next: 2/2 v Scott; 2/3 at Holy Cross

9. Newport (13-10)

Newport improved to 2-3 in the 36th district with a 72-50 win over Bellevue then went on the road and defeated St Henry,67-58. Makhi McGuire led Newport with 22 in the win over Bellevue, while Donnie Miller had 21 in the win over St Henry.

Up Next: 1/31 v Cooper; 2/3 at Campbell County

10. Beechwood (11-9)

The Tigers defeated Holmes (62-50) and Villa Madonna (75-55) this week before losing to Conner (67-51). Owen Alcorn (19 and 9) and Ben Toebbe (18 and 8) combined for 37 pts, 17 rbs in the win over Holmes. Toebbe went off for 34 points in the win over Villa Madonna.

Up Next: 1/31 at Ryle; 2/3 v Covcath

11. Holmes (10-12)

The Bulldogs lost two 35th district games this week to Beechwood (62-50) and Covcath (71-34). LJ Miller led Holmes with 18 in the loss to Beechwood. Jaiden Greene led Holmes with 8 in the loss to Covcath.

Up Next: 1/31 at Dixie Heights; 2/4 at Clinton County

12. Boone County (5-17)

The Rebels losing streak is now at 5 games following losses to Simon Kenton (69-50) and Conner (86-77). Ethan Nyman led Boone with 20 in the loss to Simon Kenton while Ousmane Ba pulled down 10 boards. Raymond Rodgers and Ethan Haynes both had 20 points in the loss to Conner. Boone is will be the 4 seed in the 33rd district.

Up Next: 2/2 v Ryle; 2/4 at Seneca

13. Holy Cross (4-14)

The Indians won their only game this week, defeating Bishop Brossart 82-66. Ty Houston went off for 25 points in the win, while Nolan Schrand had 20 and Will Volpenhein had 16.

Up Next: 1/31 v Lexington Christian; 2/3 v Conner

14. St Henry (5-14)

The Cru defeated Pendleton County, 71-57, but lost to Newport (67-58) this past week. Stephen Maley had 27 in the win over Pendleton County and 17 in the loss to Newport. Mitch McArtor had 13 against Newport.

Up Next: 2/1 at Cooper; 2/3 v Lloyd; 2/4 at Newcath

15. Dayton (7-15)

Dayton picked up a win over Ludlow (66-59) and Silver Grove (59-42) last week. Adrian Hall had 28 and Draven Garcia had a double double (16 and 10) in the win over Ludlow. Garcia had 17 against Silver Grove, while Julian Jimenez had 10 and 10.

Up Next: 2/1 at Newcath; 2/3 v Calvary Christian

16. Ludlow (7-12)

The Panthers improved to 2-1 v Villa Madonna with a 61-49 win in a key DIII conference game but lost to Lloyd (59-39) in a 34th district seed game and Dayton (66-59).

Up Next: 1/31 v Bellevue; 2/2 v Silver Grove; 2/2 at Dixie Heights

17. Villa Madonna (9-10)

Villa defeated Silver Grove (65-40) to start the week but ended the week with losses to Ludlow (61-49) and Beechwood (75-55). Thomas Schutzman went for 26 points in the win over Silver Grove, followed by Sean McIntyre with 19 points. Ben Zalla had 14 points in the loss to Ludlow and 13 in the loss to Beechwood. Schutzman had 12 in the loss to Beechwood.

Up Next: 1/31 v Lloyd; 2/2 v Bellevue; 2/3 v Highlands

18. Bellevue (6-14)

Bellevue picked up a win over Heritage (74-33) but lost two 36th district games to Newport (72-50) and Highlands (79-61). Brett Maehren had 21, 20, and 18 points in the three games this week. Tommy Ratterman had 19 points in the loss to Highlands.

Up Next: 1/31 at Ludlow; 2/1 v Campbell County; 2/2 at Villa Madonna

Agree? Disagree? Thoughts?

Great work Walter.

CovCath to me is the clear cut favorite with Cooper being the only team that can provide the most resistance to the Colonels getting to Rupp.

Lule Moeves was also on the ALL A State All Tournament Team.

He joins brothers Tanner (2014) & Grant (2015) as members of the All Tournament Team.

Lule Moeves was also on the ALL A State All Tournament Team.

 

He joins brothers Tanner (2014) & Grant (2015) as members of the All Tournament Team.

Missed that one...thanks for the addition, LB.

I realize we are 3/4 weeks away from Districts starting but I really think CCH and Cooper are the teams to beat in the 9th.

It will be a shame if it happens that they both end up on the same side of the brackets.

I realize we are 3/4 weeks away from Districts starting but I really think CCH and Cooper are the teams to beat in the 9th.

 

It will be a shame if it happens that they both end up on the same side of the brackets.

Why would that be a shame? Losing in finals or semi's, you still go home. i hope the rest of the region shows up.

I'd have Lloyd at 5th and ahead of Highlands. The Juggs recently played NewCath and Dixie losing by only 3 points and 2 points respectively. Highlands on the other hand lost recently to NewCath by 15, and to Dixie by 19 just 11 days ago. The Birds and Juggs go head to head Feb 10th @ Lloyd where we can find out for sure, but the numbers that we already have to go on seem pretty telling.

Great work Walter.

 

CovCath to me is the clear cut favorite with Cooper being the only team that can provide the most resistance to the Colonels getting to Rupp.

Both teams will be back to full strength soon and I don't believe the gap between the two is so great that I would call CCH the "clear cut favorite." No reason to believe that if these 2 play in March at BB&T it won't be a game for the ages.

Why would that be a shame? Losing in finals or semi's, you still go home. i hope the rest of the region shows up.

I only say it would be a shame because if these are the top 2 teams in the region it would be exciting to see them meeting in championship game. This has happened in the past that the 1&2 teams where they met in the semis and it ended up being a better game to see than the championship game. Just can't remember which schools.

That was my only reason.

Both teams will be back to full strength soon and I don't believe the gap between the two is so great that I would call CCH the "clear cut favorite." No reason to believe that if these 2 play in March at BB&T it won't be a game for the ages.

Couldn't agree more. The McNeils make huge difference in how the Jags play and they will have 7 more regular season games to help them get back in swing of things. I don't see that much separation between the two teams but I'll concede the slight edge to CCH based upon the head to head a couple of weeks ago. A lot of basketball is left to be played so no predictions here. On to the next one...

I guess everyone is in agreement Dixie Heights doesn't have a chance?

I guess everyone is in agreement Dixie Heights doesn't have a chance?

Not in agreement....Every team in the regional tournament better be ready to play no matter who it is or they will be sent home. It only takes one night that the orange ball decides not to drop in the cylinder as much and that team will be walking off of NKU's court with their tail between their legs. Anything can happen in the regionals and if the ball is not dropping like it should, you have to find other ways to pull out a victory.

I guess everyone is in agreement Dixie Heights doesn't have a chance?

Chance I guess so, likely hood, no.

Lloyd is the sleeper in the 9th IMO!