article 9th Region Week 10 Review: 17 of 20 teams move, including #1!!!!

Holy Smokes what a week!! Last week was filled with upset victories, games canceled due to sub-zero temperatures, college offers for players, and the solidification of almost each district’s seeds. Cooper has been the most consistent of the 9th region schools and, almost in a quiet manner, simply goes about their business. The Jaguars are the embodiment of team basketball with three players averaging double digit points per game, but no one on their team averages more than 13 points per game. Conner turned some heads with beating Beechwood, but then they lost to Holy Cross. Holy Cross, on the other hand, lost by 12 to Lloyd before Lloyd got walloped by St. Henry. As that was going on, Beechwood, who just lost to Conner before Conner lost to Holy Cross, beat the #1 team in the region! All this made the rankings for this week fun and open for criticism at the same time.

On another note, I have refrained from including anything in the review about the extra attention given to the Colonels, but I feel the necessity to make something clear. As I stood and watched the game Friday night between the Colonels and the Tigers I paid close attention to the cheering section from each school. Both student sections were excited to cheer on their boys and enjoyed some playful jeering with each other. When the final horn sound and the Tigers student section stormed the court, not one Beechwood student ran towards the Covington Catholic student section and not one Cov-Cath student tried to act unbecomingly toward the home crowd. It also has come to my attention that some Beechwood students traveled to Park Hills Friday morning to greet and shake hands with some Colonel players and fans. It’s good to see that in a world that can be divisive, we have young people that can still act in a respectful way.

I have often felt that there is a brotherhood in Northern Ky between the basketball players and fans because the school districts neighbor each other, everyone loves the Reds, the boys at many times play AAU together, and everyone goes to Newport, Florence, or Crestview Hills to socialize and eat. This is an amazing place to live and a great place for High School sports.

1. Cooper (20-3): Since losing to Covington Catholic, Cooper has won 6 games in a row. Three of those wins were against high quality 9th region opponents Newport, Highlands, and Conner. The Jaguars travel to Campbell County on the 8th for what, may be, the best game of the week. Cooper seems to be sharing the ball while playing lock down defense, giving up 70 points only one time all year.

2. Beechwood (21-4): The Tigers had two surprises this week, they were not supposed to lose to Conner, and they were not supposed to defeat Covington Catholic. When ranking Beechwood, I weighed the victory against the Colonels heavier than the loss to the Cougars. If you have not checked out the film for the final 30 seconds of the game, I suggest you take a look. When I was a youngster, winters in Ft. Mitchell were spent preparing for the next football season and now the gym is rockin’ during basketball season. Coach Goetz has created an environment many people thought was impossible.

3. Covington Catholic (19-6): Covington Catholic took out their frustrations on the Holmes Bulldogs by beating them by almost 30 points. I do not remember the last time that the Colonels were not the #1 seed, but I think it has happened pretty recently when Holmes had that good run about 9 years ago. While I was watching the Colonels warm-up Friday night, I noticed their size and strength. Those boys must work hard in the off season to be in such good physical condition.

4. Newport (19-6): Newport lost to Cooper before beating Holy Cross last week. Newport has an impressive record and their victory over Beechwood seems huge considering Campbell County and Covington Catholic could not bring home a “W” from Ft. Mitchell. Newport also has the distinction of being the only team to score 70 points against Cooper. The Wildcats should win four more games in a row before hosting Breathitt County. I know nothing about Breathitt County except they have a nice record of 16-7 and there used to be a nice Donut Shop there called “Flowers Baking Company.

5. Conner (12-10): Conner has had an interesting week. You may need to take notes. The Cougars beat Beechwood in OT on Tuesday prior to Beechwood defeating #1 Covington Catholic on Friday. On Thursday they lost to Holy Cross, who previously lost by double digits to Lloyd, a team that lost to St. Henry by 17, whom lost to Conner by 3. On Saturday Conner beat Franklin County by 16, Franklin County beat Frankfort by 1, and the Frankfort beat Highlands by 10. Highlands defeated Conner earlier this year by 1-point at Conner. What does all this teach us? Conner can beat anyone in the region. This is a big deal because come Regional Tournament time, Conner will be opposite Cooper; however, this also means that Conner has the ability to lose to Ryle in the district tournament.

6. Highlands (15-10): The Bluebirds are down one spot as a result of Conner beating Beechwood followed by Beechwood beating Covington Catholic. If one of those two things do not happen, then Highlands would remain #5. They beat Oldham County before losing to a good Frankfort team. Highlands plays Mason County, Beechwood, Lloyd, and Holy Cross before the district tournament.

7. Holy Cross (7-14): The Indians defeated Conner by 14 points and lost to Newport by 5 last week. I was not expecting a victory for them over the Cougars. Holy Cross is very inconsistent, but with Conner’s victory over Beechwood, Holy Cross deserves a spot in the top ten.

8. St. Henry (10-11): The Crusaders’ tough schedule at the beginning of the year might be paying off now. St. Henry still has some tough games against Beechwood, Newport, and Holy Cross before the season closes out. Coach Faust put together a schedule that resulted in a bad win/loss record the first half of the year, but they are looking to go to the regional tournament when some of the teams that defeated them have a much harder road.

9. Lloyd Memorial (15-5): Lloyd’s 6-game winning streak was halted in in style by the St. Henry Crusaders via a 17-point loss. Lloyd will have to defeat Dixie Heights in the district tournament in order to take a trip to NKU this year.

10. Holmes (6-16): Holmes had been playing better and their two butt-kickins from Cooper and Covington Catholic had to be disappointing for them. Their remaining opponents are Boone County, St. Henry, Simon Kenton, Ludlow, and Conner. They should get two more victories before being blessed with playing Covington Catholic again in the district tournament. There are reports that Tico Pouncey is out for the year with an injury, but these have not been confirmed by me as of the time of this article.

11. Newport Central Catholic (9-13) Newport Catholic is on a 5-game losing streak and I probably hung with them a little too long. Despite the losses, I felt they were playing pretty well but the 17-point loss to Brossart did surprise me. They play Newport, Cooper, Frederick Douglas, Roger Bacon (Cincinnati), and Conner before the district tournament. They will indeed win one of those games.

12. Dixie Heights (9-15): The Colonels didn’t do anything wrong this week. They crushed a small school and lost by 4 to Eastern. The teams a few slots ahead of them had better weeks, so someone must fall. Dixie does seem to be playing better and could jump several spots with games against Holy Cross and Covington Catholic.

13. Ryle (6-16): Ryle won back-to-back games last week for the first time all year. Their four remaining games are against Scott, Campbell County, Franklin County, and Covington Holy Cross. I will make a prediction that they win at least one of those games.

14. Boone County (5-19): The Rebels lost two games this week. Being a bigger school in a tough district, they have to play the powerhouses of the region. I really do wonder what would happen if they played Villa or Ludlow.

15. Ludlow (12-11): The Panthers lost easily to two bigger schools in the 9th Region. These losses certainly put their skills in perspective but Coach Sullivan’s boys will be able to establish their superiority over other Division III competition if they can beat Bellevue on the 5th.

16. Villa Madonna (10-15): The Vikings deposed of the two of Northern Campbell County schools that were ranked ahead of them in week 9.

17. Bellevue (8-16): The Tigers beat a decent Calvary Christian team but then laid an egg against Villa Madonna, losing by 13.

18. Dayton (6-18): The Devils lost in double overtime to Villa last week before losing to Trimble by 24. The Devils are playing a little better.

19. Heritage Academy (2-16): Heritage avenged a previous loss to Covington Latin by defeating them 79-53. Heritage nearly defeated Silver Grove earlier in the week.

20. Covington Latin (1-11) Latin lost three games this week.

Nice work PP1. I’d still rank Highlands above the Cougars based on the outcome of their previous game (which was actually at Highlands). My Cougars are hard to figure out.

Beechwood was missing a starter vs Conner but they can only play who laces them up, so Conner will take that one. Conner has games this week vs Scott (now at Scott) and Campbell County at Conner on Saturday. Two tough teams from the 10 region.

Holy Smokes what a week!! Last week was filled with upset victories, games canceled due to sub-zero temperatures, college offers for players, and the solidification of almost each district’s seeds.

Which players and which colleges? Thank you.

Last week, Ratterman got an offer from Asbury.

Nice review :thumb:

Really enjoyed your maze-like breakdown of Conner. :lol2:

Great Job as usual.:thumb: Really enjoyed reading about the teams and players.

Should be a very interesting, and competitive postseason. I still like the Colonels winning the crown.

This will be one of the most competitive regions in the state with 4-5 teams having the potential of winning the 9th. While many like CCH to still win the region, I still say the team playing the best and most consistent basketball right now is Cooper. They are a senior led team and while they lost a very close game to CCH on the road with probably the worst 3rd quarter in the schools history and the first game back for Walters who struggled after missing nearly 3 weeks, that game could have went Cooper's way but it certainly didn't that night so no excuses.

I believe on a neutral and much bigger floor Cooper is very dangerous but again this region could go them, Beechwood, CCH, Newport or potentially even Highlands or Conner. Whoever gets hot for 3 games at regionals could take the 9th but from a consistency standpoint I will take the Jaguars. Big game this week on the road with Campbell Co., which is always a tough place to play, should be another huge test.

This will be one of the most competitive regions in the state with 4-5 teams having the potential of winning the 9th. While many like CCH to still win the region, I still say the team playing the best and most consistent basketball right now is Cooper. They are a senior led team and while they lost a very close game to CCH on the road with probably the worst 3rd quarter in the schools history and the first game back for Walters who struggled after missing nearly 3 weeks, that game could have went Cooper's way but it certainly didn't that night so no excuses.

 

I believe on a neutral and much bigger floor Cooper is very dangerous but again this region could go them, Beechwood, CCH, Newport or potentially even Highlands or Conner. Whoever gets hot for 3 games at regionals could take the 9th but from a consistency standpoint I will take the Jaguars. Big game this week on the road with Campbell Co., which is always a tough place to play, should be another huge test.

I would agree that you'd have to peg Cooper as the favorite to win the 9th on February 5th, 2019. :thumb:

Yes- WIDE OPEN this year.

ttt

I think I would have Beechwood definitely behind at least CovCath still and maybe even another spot down. That was a huge victory for Beechwood. However when looking at the rankings. Beechwood also has a beat down lost to Cooper. They lost to the number 4 team in Newport and also lost to the number 5 team in Conner. So Beechwood has lost to three of the top 5 teams, with it's only win against the top 5 being to CovCath. So I don't think one win against the top 5, should trump the three losses to the top 5.

As many talented teams there are in the region I still think that when clicking on all cylinders CovCath and Cooper are in a league of their own.

Sure teams like Beechwood, Newport, Conner, Highlands etc... have shown competitiveness worthy of knocking anybody off on any given night, but still it's gonna take quite a clever game plan to knock off either the Colonels or the Jags come regional tourney time.

Sure anything can happen, but when it comes down to being for all the marbles you better believe that these two teams will step up to show who's really the boss of the 9th.

If we have the pleasure of again seeing these two teams match up come tourney time it'll be truly the best that a 9th Region fan could ask for. I still love to see a good old darkhorse rise the occasion, but I can't but help to savor another go around with CovCath and Cooper, and preferably in the finals.

As many talented teams there are in the region I still think that when clicking on all cylinders CovCath and Cooper are in a league of their own.

 

Sure teams like Beechwood, Newport, Conner, Highlands etc... have shown competitiveness worthy of knocking anybody off on any given night, but still it's gonna take quite a clever game plan to knock off either the Colonels or the Jags come regional tourney time.

 

Sure anything can happen, but when it comes down to being for all the marbles you better believe that these two teams will step up to show who's really the boss of the 9th.

 

If we have the pleasure of again seeing these two teams match up come tourney time it'll be truly the best that a 9th Region fan could ask for. I still love to see a good old darkhorse rise the occasion, but I can't but help to savor another go around with CovCath and Cooper, and preferably in the finals.

Agree, as much as I think Cooper is a solid favorite at this point to win the Region, I think CovCath is an equally strong "2nd choice" at this point. Like I don't think Cooper will lose to CovCath again in the Regional, I don't believe Beechwood will be able to knock off CovCath when / if they play at Holmes.

I think I would have Beechwood definitely behind at least CovCath still and maybe even another spot down. That was a huge victory for Beechwood. However when looking at the rankings. Beechwood also has a beat down lost to Cooper. They lost to the number 4 team in Newport and also lost to the number 5 team in Conner. So Beechwood has lost to three of the top 5 teams, with it's only win against the top 5 being to CovCath. So I don't think one win against the top 5, should trump the three losses to the top 5.

You might be right. Beechwood was #4 and beat the #1 team so they had to go up. If you go up from #4 you are either #2 or #3 and Newport did lose to both Cooper and Cov Cath in convincing fashion.