I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. While it is great to celebrate the Holiday Season and I enjoy the two weeks off from work, it is a little difficult to venture out for Boys' Basketball. I was able to watch some of the Traditional Bank Holiday Classic via the web. With no play-by-play it felt as if I was sitting in the gym itself. I hear that Simon Kenton is playing in the championship game and, while I of course realize that they are not an 9th Region Team, it is good to see Kenton County well represented.

 

There are some regular-season games taking place starting Friday in the area and, if you do not mind a ten-minute drive south of Florence, Holmes is traveling to Walton Verona tomorrow (Monday) afternoon.

 

There will be some fun games to watch in Boone County this weekend. Beechwood goes to Ryle, Covington Catholic goes to Conner, Lloyd goes to Cooper, and St. Henry goes to BCHS.

 

Before we get to the rankings, I want to throw this out there for some ear candy. When I was playing 7th Grade Basketball for the Bellevue Tigers I remember in a game against St. Michael there was an unusual scenario. The coach for St Michael, current NCC assistant Ralph Meyer, was allowed to select which member of our team would shoot a particular free throw. I can’t quite remember if this was due to injury, ejection, or something else. I have asked a couple of referees over the years and tried to look in the official rules and procedures book but, alas, the answer still eludes me. If anyone can shed some light, it would be like Inigo Montoya finally finding the six-fingered man.

 

Regional Rankings------ There were several games still being played Sunday at 7pm when I was finishing my report. My rankings do not reflect any results of Sunday games that were not reported prior to 6pm.

1. Covington Catholic (6-3): Covington Catholic won a couple of games in Florida over the weekend and are playing for a tournament championship tonight. As of this writing, I do not know the results of said game and I am going to see Star Wars in about an hour. The Colonels have not posted any stats since the previous week. I did see on a previous thread that they overcame a 17-0 deficit to win a semi-final game. I guess if you are going to be down 17-points you’d rather it be to start the game. Cov Cath travels to Conner and Turpin this week.

 

2. Beechwood (7-5): After beating Paintsville in the first round of the Lexington Catholic Tournament, the Tigers lost to two very good teams in Lex-Cath and Collins. It seems Beechwood was able to remain competitive with these two schools and tough games such as these should help prepare them for other NKY opponents. The Tigers travel to play the Ryle Raiders on Friday. Along with being their leading scorer, Scotty Draud also leads the Tigers in rebounds with 7 per game. Mitchell Rylee and Brandon Hughes are also rebounding the ball well for the Tigers.

 

3. Highlands (10-0): I am cautiously moving Highlands ahead of St. Henry this week. Highlands put up 90 points in three consecutive games. The Bluebirds travel to Middletown for a tournament starting January 2nd. Don’t get too excited, this Middletown is not the one north of us a short stretch, and honestly, I have no idea where this particular Middletown is. Sam Vinson is averaging 25 points and 9 rebounds a game.

 

4. St. Henry (6-2): St. Henry played Ludlow this week and won by 42. They made 13 3-pointers in this game. The Crusaders host Lexington Catholic on January 3rd.

 

5. Conner (6-3): Conner went 1-1 this week against a couple of teams from Ohio. They did not post stats for those games, so the numbers have not changed. The Cougars host Covington Catholic on Friday. I like Conner’s gym.

 

6. Newport Central Catholic (6-4): The Breds lost 2 of 3 in Sarasota. It is hard to judge those games because we do not know the quality of the competition. They did not post any stats, so I do not know if Jefferson or Mullikin has suited up yet. New Cath and Newport High are neck and neck.

 

7. Newport (9-2): Newport could also be ranked #6 and, had they not lost their first game, I probably would have given them the extra bump. Aiken is a very good team and Pulaski is above average. The Wildcats are performing beyond expectations (at least mine) and for the season they are shooting 41% from the 3-point line!!

 

8. Lloyd Memorial (7-3): Lloyd lost to Lexington Christian by 3 and beat Muhlenberg County in double overtime to sit at 7-3 on the year. They are playing Eastern Sunday night and, as of this writing and prior to my visit to see Star Wars, I know not the outcome. The Juggs travel to Cooper on Friday.

 

9. Holmes (5-4): The Bulldogs lost to Bishop Brossart by 3. The Stangs are playing out of their minds right now, so the fact that Holmes played with them all the way to the end is a positive sign for Coach Carr’s boys. I am predicting a victory for them over Walton Verona on Monday Afternoon. I will be in attendance and, by all means, swing by and say “hello.”

 

10. Cooper (2-7): The Jaguars lost two games this week, but the competition was solid. Their second loss was to Tates Creek by 9 and Tates Creek just beat the Beechwood Tigers the previous week. Cooper is playing Paintsville tonight, but I have not heard the result yet. The Jags host Lloyd on Friday.

 

11. Holy Cross (4-5): The Indians went 1-1 this week with a game against Robertson County (always Deming to me) taking place as I am writing this piece. The Indians will probably not get sunburned this week because they are “not quite” traveling to Hawaii.

 

12. Ryle (5-6): Ryle has won 3 of 4 and seems to be playing better. Most of their wins have come against smaller schools, but last year they struggled against smaller schools. The Raiders have three players averaging more than 13 points a game.

 

13. Dixie Heights (2-8): Dixie is on a two-game winning streak with a chance to make it three in a row against Woodford County. The results for that particular game are still pending.

 

14. Boone County (3-8): The Rebels host St. Henry on Saturday. There are a plethora (3 Amigos) of games going on in all 4 of the BC Gymnasiums this weekend.

 

15. Ludlow (4-6): Ludlow plays Calvary Christian and Henry County this week. If you have never been to Henry County’s gym, you need to try and make it there some time. It is a great place to watch a game.

 

16. Villa Madonna (3-8): Villa lost some games in Florida this week. They play Dayton on Friday.

 

17. Dayton (2-8): Dayton won their second game of the year last week. I predict they will beat Villa Madonna on Friday.

 

18. Bellevue (1-5): I traveled to Bellevue this week to watch some girls' games. I resented having to pay 6-dollars. The Tigers have not played since December 16th. I was wondering if anyone knows why the Mike Swauger classic was not held this year. Just for fun, the next time you are in the Ben Flora gym you will notice that their all-time basketball stats are posted in the lobby, why don’t you swing on by and see who is sitting at #7 in their all-time leading rebounder category.... it’s my friend Ben, we used to baseball in St. Anthony's parking lot.

 

19. Heritage (2-5): Heritage travels to Beth Haven on Friday.

 

***** While I finished my article around 7:30, I did not post it until I returned from the movies. During that span, I am sure that more scores were posted to KHSAA, so even though you are probably reading this on Monday, the rankings reflect the games that were reported at the time the article was written, although not yet posted.

Ryle defeated a good Franklin County team in overtime in the Henry County Tournament this weekend.

While not quite ready for prime time in the 9th, I do feel that Coach Belcher has them heading in the right direction.

Holy Cross defeated Robertson County 75-43 to place 3rd in the Montgomery County Invitational while Dixie was defeated by Woodford County in the championship game.

Sorry, Holy Cross score was 85-52 final, 75-43 was the 3rd quarter score

Holmes plays Walton today at 3:30. The game is at Walton. I am pulling for Holmes in this one, I have developed a slight aversion towards Walton the past fifteen years.

Middletown (Louisville Eastern).

Cov Cath did win the Florida tournament. They beat the host team (Villages) in the finals that had a 10-1 record coming in. Beat a talented team coached by Charlie Ward in the semi final game, and beat a 2 or 3 time defending state champ in their first game. Their early season schedule is impressive to say the least, and great experience for their younger players.

As Big Red said, CovCaths tough schedule will pay dividends going forward. I really feel like they're the most complete team in the state and may be the best by the end of the regular season. Winning the sweet16 is a different story though, that takes some luck along with good play.

PP1 good work on the rankings as I know it is hard to rank teams each week after Cov Cath.

 

I will say this though, Holy Cross can't seem to get much credit but I hope they keep flying under the radar after their tough schedule to start the year. After starting the year 1-4 with losses to Cov Cath, Oldham Co, Highlands and Brossart, they have won 4 of 5 games and have battled back to 5-5 after that tough schedule to start the season. Cooper at 2-7 still in the top 10 is a bit surprising still but they have the "history" of being good.

 

Good luck to all teams after they all return from the Holiday tournaments and get back into region play.

Simon Kenton was not in the championship game of the Lex Cath tournament.

Simon Kenton was not in the championship game of the Lex Cath tournament.

 

Simon Kenton faced Collins in the 5th place game.

Simon Kenton faced Collins in the 5th place game.

 

Fully aware of this.

Fully aware of this.

 

He was correcting me. I thought I heard somewhere that SK was playing in the Championship game. The brackets were kind of hard to read.

Bump.

 

I will say this though, Holy Cross can't seem to get much credit but I hope they keep flying under the radar after their tough schedule to start the year. After starting the year 1-4 with losses to Cov Cath, Oldham Co, Highlands and Brossart, they have won 4 of 5 games and have battled back to 5-5 after that tough schedule to start the season.

 

Good point about Holy Cross. It is true that their losses have been to very solid teams. When I look at their victories though I do not see them beating any solid teams either. Maybe Deming.

 

Their games against Walton, SK, St. Henry, and NCC will make it a bit more clear. They could go 3-1 or 0-4.