Prelude:

 

Thinking about the bus crash a couple days ago and hearing of Kobe Bryant’s untimely death has a way of putting things in perspective. I understand that the driver of the vehicle involved in the Bus Accident has passed away and, as of this writing, the reports seem to indicate that Kobe Bryant’s daughter also perished in the helicopter accident. It serves as a reminder of what is truly important.

 

 

Regional Rankings

 

1. Covington Catholic (18-3): The Colonels have a big week ahead of them. They play St. Xavier, Highlands, and Simon Kenton.

 

2. Conner (13-5): Conner is on a 7-game winning streak. The Cougars play Holy Cross and Boone County this week.

 

3. St. Henry (16-3): St. Henry brought home the All A Title. I am not sure is this will result in a change of game schedule to avoid surpassing the maximum allotted games. As of now, St. Henry plays Walton on the 29th.

 

4. Beechwood (15-7): Beechwood rebounded from their All A loss by beating Newport at Newport and defeating Cincinnati Dohn. Beechwood travels to Campbell County on Tuesday

 

5. Highlands (16-1): Highlands beat a couple of weaker teams last week. The games are a bit more challenging with New Cath and Cov Cath coming up. If they beat Cov Cath, they’ll leapfrog to #1.

 

6. Newport Central Catholic (11-7): The Breds have not been real busy since the All A. They play Highlands on the 28th.

 

7. Holy Cross (9-7): Holy Cross surprised “some” people with their victory over Campbell County last week. The Indians have had a tough schedule this year and play Conner and Lloyd this week.

 

8. Cooper (6-11): The Jags have a district seeded game against Ryle this week.

 

9. Ryle (9-10): Ryle is on a two-game winning streak with games against Calvary and Cooper coming up. They could get on a roll.

 

10. Lloyd Memorial (10-7): Lloyd has lost 4 of the last 6 games. The Juggs play Dixie, Holy Cross, and Gallatin this week.

 

11. Dixie Heights (4-15): Dixie has a chance for a significant win against Lloyd coming up.

 

12. Holmes (8-12): Holmes plays Campbell County on the 27th. The Dawgs are coming off a victory against another 10th Region team in Mason County.

 

13. Newport (10-9): Newport fell to .500 before beating Bellevue. Even though it is not considered a “quality win,” sometimes just getting a monkey off your back can let you breathe a little and start to get back to business. They should beat Dayton and Trimble Co this week.

 

14. Boone County (4-15): As a result of Boone County being a bigger school, they play the top-notch teams in the 9th Region. This week they battle Simon Kenton and Conner with Cov Cath looming in the near future.

 

15. Ludlow (10-7): Ludlow has won three straight games and could win at least the next 4.

 

16. Dayton (5-13): Dayton beat Heritage and played Bracken pretty close.

 

17. Villa Madonna (4-16): Villa lost three games, all by double digits. They will play Dixie on Thursday.

 

18. Heritage Academy (4-11): Heritage gets themselves out of the bottom by beating my beloved Tigers.

 

19. Bellevue (2-13): Bellevue plays Ludlow, Calvary, and Berea this week.

 

20. Covington Latin (0-8): Latin lost to Portland Christian.

I'm still not seeing how you keep dropping Highlands. They're 16-1! That loss was to Conner at Conner. They're no worse than 3 in the Region and yes that is even with St. Henry's run to the All-A.

 

1. Cov Cath

2. Conner

3. Highlands

4. St. Henry

5. Beechwood

6. Holy Cross

7. NCC

 

The rest is a crap shoot at this point.

From what I could tell they have only beat 4 of the 16 teams that have a record above .500. Also two of those 4 are only 1 or 2 games over.500. They play 3 of the teams ahead in the next 3 weeks.

I'm still not seeing how you keep dropping Highlands. They're 16-1! That loss was to Conner at Conner. They're no worse than 3 in the Region and yes that is even with St. Henry's run to the All-A.

 

1. Cov Cath

2. Conner

3. Highlands

4. St. Henry

5. Beechwood

6. Holy Cross

7. NCC

 

The rest is a crap shoot at this point.

 

Highlands did not drop.

The top 5 looks about right to me. With a win over NCC and at least keeping the game with Cov Cath respectable I could see bumping Highlands up a spot or two next week. Now is Highlands chance to really prove themselves, imo. Outside of the top 5-6 I really think you could flip a coin for the rest of the top 10.

We've been saying it all year outside of #1 that is is hard to rank each week. Holy Cross dropped from #6 to #7 and they beat Campbell Co in their only game last week. Also they have beaten #6 NCC ahead of them by 22. Just saying.

We've been saying it all year outside of #1 that is is hard to rank each week. Holy Cross dropped from #6 to #7 and they beat Campbell Co in their only game last week.

 

Holy Cross was #8 last week and moved up to #7 when Lloyd lost to Ryle. The Indians did not move from 6 to 7.

Holy Cross was #8 last week and moved up to #7 when Lloyd lost to Ryle. The Indians did not move from 6 to 7.

 

Is Cody done? With Cody, Lloyd beats Ryle by 15+.

Is Cody done? With Cody, Lloyd beats Ryle by 15+.

 

I was going to ask the same thing.

Lloyd wins and loses are measured substantially by if Cody played, or if he did not.

Cody was only out 1 game. He will be back.

Cody was only out 1 game. He will be back.

Good. He’s a difference maker.

Holy Cross Radio will at Lloyd this Thursday to broadcast the Holy Cross/Lloyd game. I for one hope Cody is back playing. I like to watch all the top players in our region play and clearly Lloyd is a different team when he is on the court.

Conner at #2 baffles me... I know they are hot right now, but you could easily argue they are the 4th hottest team in the region behind CCH, St. Henry, and Highlands. While two of those teams won AT Conner this season, and the other has their ONE loss this season there.

Cody was only out 1 game. He will be back

 

He also sat the 1st half of All A Regional game.