With the Region 9 champs having a first round game against the Region 3 champs in the "dance", I was wondering if some informed fans from the 9th can comment on some of the faves from the 9th. Highlands, Holy Cross, Beechwood as well as Holmes and Covington seem the cream of the crop as far as records go. Any dark horses? Also did the district draw hurt or help any of these teams with head to head match ups. I am just trying to get a feel for the match up with any 9th region team that the 3rd will match up with.

The two top teams at the moment are Covington Catholic and Highlands. CovCath is #1 in the Polls, but HHS won in the earlier match up. CCH matches up well against Owensboro Catholic (who I think will win the 3rd) but OCath beat them handily earlier in the year, although it was without CCH's floor leader and point guard. Highlands is a team with physical big guys and a talented point guard.

 

Holmes (the #3 team at this point) beat both teams earlier in the year but they lost their only big guy and have been struggling lately.

 

Holy Cross and Beechwood are in the same district as CovCath and Holmes so they will probably not make the regional tournament. Holy Cross is probably the #3 or #4 team in the region.

 

Dixie Heights is a three point shooting team with a 5 guard offense. They need to get hott to make it to Rupp. The other dark horse is Newport Central Catholic.

 

A rundown of the 3rd would be nice, Radio Guy...

NCC is maybe a dark horse to watch for. In My Honest Opinion, I can't see them winning the region though. Truthfully there are only 3 teams that have a good shot winning the regiong and as of today I would rank them in this order.

 

1. CovCath-Seems to be rolling. They have won 6 out of their last 7, with the only loss of those 7 coming to Scott Co. They have possibly one of the best guard trios in the state. They have had some big men start to step up and that makes them dangerous.

 

2. Highlands-Maybe the best Defensive team in the state. Not tall, but they are big and strong. Led by All-Region guard Jeff Vories. This boy can play some D, shoot the ball, drive, and is quicker than you think. They will give anyone a run for their money and basically are a veteran ball club.

 

3. Holmes- Last years Champs On the way out? Last 12 games: 9 straight wins. 3 straight losses. 1 Legit Loss to North College Hill (OJMAYO). The most athletic team in the state IMO, until this month. The ony inside threat they had in Greg Rice, All Region Junior (preseason #2 player in the region), was dismissed from the team. Sophmore Sensational Jumper and Dunker Arrez Henderson was injured in the last game when the lost to Boone Co. They can still be dangerous b/c they have the #1 player in the region pg Duran Jefferson. Austin Hill, may have be the most underrated player in the state and has scored 30+ 3 times since Rice's dismissal. Don't count them out yet, but alot to work on.

Well OCatholic may be the favorite, but Meade Co, Owensboro, Apollo and Breckenridge Co can not be counted out. Meade beat Apollo once and Breck Co. twice in the regular season, and lost to Ohio Co by I believe 10. They lost one of the best players for I think the rest of the season. They do not go deep off the bench which may hurt them. Apollo and Owensboro play 1st game in district so that will eliminate one of them. Owensboro is playing real good right know and Apollo has shown that in close games they can just as easy lose them as win them as the margin of victory for them is not much at all. OCatholic has a soft schedule to end the season and they play Daviess Co in the district. The soft schedule may come back to bite them. Breck Co has a up and down season and for them it just depends on which team shows up. Owensboro just beat then on 02/17.. However in all fairness, I have seen such close games in this district and region that a missed 3 or a 5 for 8 free throw night can make or break a team. I also think that either Breck or Meade would have to come to Owensboro for the 1st round of the region depending on who is runner up in their district. That would IMO be a benefit to the local team. It is like a 2 hour drive and a time change between here and there.

I wouldn't be surprised one bit if Cov. Holy Cross made it to the region out of that district they have proven to have penchant for the "upset" this year. For some reason however I loved the Highlands played against Lafayette, proving they are a very tough and physical team, which will serve them well in the playoffs. However like others have already mentioned , any one of possibly 6 teams could win the 9th.

Holy Cross is white hot right now but they have a tough road with CCH and Holmes, I wouldn't put it past them on their HC.

CCH is also doing very well at this time and the first round may be a toss up. CCH has a tendency to get down early and fight back for the win. This has been shown in about 5 games or so. They are great at the come back and teams can never count them out. HC is good when hitting the 3, but outside of Suggs lack a true inside presence that CCH is emerging with in Noll and Schult (on defense mostly).

The winner will still come from one of the big 3 Holmes, Highlands or CCH. I would be surprised if anyone else were to end up in Rupp.

I"ll say it right now the winner Tuesday at HC should be the favorite to win region.

Big 3 and thats it..

Big 3 and thats it..

I know because HC winning is so out of the relm of possibilty, they only beat a "BIG 3" member last week and if they for some reason pull of the upset would have to beat another member of this club tuesday. I see no reason why if HC is able to pull off the biggest win in a decade there name would not be in the mix.

The winner will still come from one of the big 3 Holmes, Highlands or CCH. I would be surprised if anyone else were to end up in Rupp.

 

Where's the love for HC? I thought you were a believer now? Must all good things come to an end so quickly? :walk:

Where's the love for HC? I thought you were a believer now? Must all good things come to an end so quickly? :walk:

:confused: I'm sorry, I'm still new to this whole new way of thinking. You have to give me some time with this..

I think it is still between the top 3 right now Holmes, Highlands, Covcath. I think the two dark horse's at this point though are NCC and Holy Cross. HC is playing well right now and could upset CCH in the District at Home. Holmes will be ready come district play, I had a feeling that they would struggle for a few games with the loss of Rice. Holmes has a had a few days to regroup now and we will find out on Friday where they stand. I still feel they are the team to beat and until they are knocked out of the district or region they are my pick to repeat. Call me a homer if you like, acctualy I prefer that title. So the Homer pick from me is that Holmes will still win the region without Rice. I still feel though that the other 4 teams mentioned above have the ability to win the region.