9th Region Week 1 Review

9th Region Rankings Week 1

     1.Covington Catholic 

• Head Coach: Scott Ruthsatz 
• District 35
• Current Record: 3-0

The Colonels stay at #1 after the first week of action across the 9th region. Cov Cath handled Cooper, Dixie, and Ryle pretty easily in all 3 of the contest winning by 25+ in each. They have been lead by Beechwood transfer Mitchell Rylee with 16.0 PPG through the first 3 games while bringing down 7.3 RPG. I've watched bits and clips of the Colonels play this season and the seem just as dominate as they were last season. Chandler Starks and Donovan Stocks have been there usual selves to start off the season, but the biggest surprise to me was to see how well the young sophomore Evan Ipsaro has performed. Ipsaro has been able to put up 12.0 PPG while shooting 6/8 from 3 point land, he reminds me a lot of Disken from last year and will be a pest!  Colonels have a busy schedule this week as they take on North Laurel tonight, while testing their luck over in Cincinnati as they take on Turpin and Indian Hill after.

     2. St. Henry 

• Head Coach: Dave Faust
• District 34
• Current Record: 2-1 

The Crusaders jump up to #2 in the rankings after they handed Highlands their first loss of the season in a close game. Wyatt Veith's last second 3 to tie the game about forced OT, until Cody Teeten stole the inbound pass with 1 second left and scored a layup to win! St. Henry also traveled down to Lexington and took on Lexington Catholic where Jude Bessler forced overtime on a last second 3, but came up just short over a top ranked squad in the state of Kentucky. The Crusaders are a scrappy bunch who play well together, lead by Veith who has scored 23.3 PPG and Bessler at 17.0 PPG. This team will be tough to beat! 

     3. Highlands 

• Head Coach: Kevin Listerman 
• District 36
• Last season: 1-1

Bluebirds go down to spot 3 in my rankings because of their loss to St. Henry. Free-throws during crunch time hurt Highlands, but credit is due as St. Henry is ranked above them! Birds have been lead by reigning 9th region player of the year Sam Vinson who has averaged 24.0 PPG. This team plays fast and shoots the ball very well. Sophomore Will Herald has been extremely hot from 3 point land shooting 10/14 in just 2 games of action! The Birds hosted the Ashland Blazers who were currently on a 33 game winning streak before they ran came to the OVEN! Highlands takes on Dixie Thursday this week and then will get a crack at the Lex-Cath Knights Sunday! 

     4. Beechwood 

• Head Coach: Erik Goetz
• District 35
• Current Record: 3-0

The Tigers stay at 4 after they have recorded a 3-0 record against the competition they have played. The Brossart Munstangs played them tough, Scotty Draud was to much to handle scoring 20 points in the game and evenly distributed points between Rolf & Downtown both at 9 a piece for the game. Grant County and Dohn Community (Cincinnati, Ohio) weren't able to stop the Tigers either as they handled each team pretty easily. Draud leads the team in scoring at 23.3 PPG and field goal percentage at 65.0%.  They start off the All "A" Classic tomorrow against Villa Madonna at 7:00 PM.

    5. Conner 

• Head Coach: Matthew Otte 
• District 33 
• Current Record: 2-0

The Cougars were able to handle the Holy Cross Indians 59-42. Spencer Couzins has been leading the team in scoring at 20 PPG. This Conner team is very balanced and they have 7 players averaging 5+ PPG. Conner also took care of business against a tough Boone County team 76-58. The Cougars take on Dixie tonight at 7:30 PM, this game will tell us a lot about each team! 

     6. Holy Cross 

• Head Coach: Brandon Grammar
• District 35
• Current Record: 1-2

The Holy Cross Indians took a tough loss to Conner last week. On the bright side for the Indians, they were without one of their better players from last season Brandon McClendon. Sophomore Jacob Meyer is leading the Indians at 25.0 PPG and Jeremiah Hicks is leading the team in rebounding at 7.7 RPG. The Indians had a very impressive win against CAL, Meyer went off for a 40 ball! The Indians are taking on Newport in the 9th Region All "A" Classic tonight as I type! 

    7. Dixie Heights

• Head Coach: Roger S. Stainforth, II
• District 34
• Current Record: 2-1

The red colonels ran into the blue colonels last week and lost 71-46. However, they got big wins over Ryle and Harrison County! Leading the team is Billy Wogenstahl at 17.3 PPG and 8.0 RPG. Dixie takes on Conner tonight at Conner @ 7:30. This should be a good ball game! Dixie also takes on Highlands Thursday and Villa Madonna Saturday! 

     8. Cooper 

• Head Coach: Tim Sullivan 
• District 33 
• Last Season: 1-2 

Cooper took down the Simon Kenton Pioneers 59-50 where Jacob Deere put some damage on the scoreboard at 20 points! However, the Jaguars struggled mightily against Covington Catholic and Bryan Station. COVID-19 cancels the ball game tonight against Lloyd according to "scoreboard.12dt.com". Would have been a big game for both programs! 

     9. Newport Central Catholic

• Head Coach: Ron Dawn
• District 36 
• Current Record: 2-1

The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds opened up an impressive start to the season beating Newport by 20+ and beating Scott 54-45. However, they ran into CAL and ended up losing by 10. On the season Joel Iles is leading the team in 19.7 PPG and 6.7 RPG. Ross Pangallo has been out with injury, and when he is healthy, this team will be tough! They face off against St. Henry in the 9th Region All "A" Classic tomorrow @ 7:30 PM. 

    10. Lloyd Memorial 

• Head Coach: Michael Walker
• District 34
• Current Record: 2-1

The Juggernauts have a solid district win against Villa Madonna and another great win against Boone County! Leading the team in PPG is Zaire Monroe at 16.0 PPG and leading the team in RPG is Jeremiah Israel at 9.0 RPG. Lloyd's game tonight against Cooper seems to be canceled, but they play this Friday against Ryle, that one should be a good matchup between #10 and #11 ranked teams! 

    11. Ryle

• Head Coach: Keaton Belcher
• District 33
• Current Record: 2-2

The Ryle Raiders started off the season playing against 2 great teams Cov-Cath and Dixie and put up a fight against Dixie, but wasn't enough losing 81-64. However, they have gotten back on track against Central Kentucky HomeSchool and Nicholas County. Donovan Robinson and Tyler Bush have been leading the team in points at 20.0 PPG for Robinson and 16.2 PPG for Bush! They are currently taking on Holmes tonight and will ply Lloyd this Friday! 

    12. Holmes

• Head Coach: Bradford Carr
• District 35 
• Current Record: 2-1

The Bulldogs beat Ludlow and Bracken County each by 20+, but fell in a close one to the Scott Eagles! This team has been lead by Eian Elmer at 14.7 PPG and Quantez Calloway at 13.5 PPG. This team will be a hard team to beat after playing the rough part of their schedule! They play Ryle tonight in a very intriguing matchup between 2 solid teams and then play Lexington Catholic Saturday! 

    13. Boone County 

• Head Coach: Nathan Browning
• District 33
• Current Record: 1-2

The Boone Country rebels played both Conner and Lloyd tough IMO even though they lost! Leading the way for the Rebels is Parker Fields at 19.3 PPG and Cole Shumate at 13.7 PPG. Boone also took a win over Model 75-55! This week Boone County takes on SK tonight, and then play Gallatin County Friday! However, their game against Dayton is cancelled that was scheduled for Saturday! 

     14. Newport

• Head Coach: Rod Snapp 
• District 36 
• Current Record: 1-1

The Newport Wildcats lost to NCC to open up their season, but then battled back through adversity after COVID-19 cancelled their game against East Jessamine and beat a tough Ludlow team 55-48!Leading the team is Alex Greene at 15.5 PPG and KeAndre Nelson at 13.0 PPG. The Wildcats play tonight against Holy Cross in the 9th Region All "A" Classic! 

     15. Ludlow

• Head Coach: Dan Sullivan 
• District 34 
• Current Record: 1-2 

The Ludlow Panthers have started the season off with a 1-2 record losing to Newport and Holmes! However, they were able to get a big Win against Heritage Academy 90-59. Leading the way is Noah Hoffmeister at 17.0 PPG. Ludlow takes on Bellevue this Saturday!

     16. Dayton

• Head Coach: Ron Kinmon
• District 36 
• Current Record 

The Dayton Green Devils started off the season on the right foot beating Covington Latin 89-21. They battled Calvary Christain but ended up losing 61-46 and took another loss against a good Pendleton County team 66-53! This team will sadly have to sit out there next 3 games due to COVID-19 according to the stats website I use! 

    17. Villa Madonna 

• Head Coach: Trevor Gould 
• District 34
• Current Record: 2-2

The Villa Madonna Vikings lost 2 in a row to Lloyd and Grant County, but then battled back and beat Bellevue 2 times in a row! Leading the team in points is Martin Dominic at 10.7 PPG! They take one Beechwood tomorrow and Dixie Saturday! 

     18. Bellevue

• Head Coach: Jim Hicks
• District 36 
• Current Record: 0-4

  The Bellevue Tigers are currently winless on the season as they have battled Pendleton County, Villa Madonna, and Williamstown! The leading scorer for the Tigers is Derek Leedy at 10 PPG! Bellevue takes on Lawrenburg from Indiana Thursday and then play Ludlow on Saturday @ 2:00 PM!

    19. Heritage Academy 

• Head Coach: Jerry Miles
• District 33 
• Current Record: 0-1

Heritage Academy took a tough loss to Ludlow 90-59, and have not been able to play because of COVID-19! Hopefully they will be able to come out on top against St. Patrick when they Friday! 

     20. Covington Latin

• Head Coach: Joe Hornback
• District 35
• Current Record: 0-2

Covington Latin lost 2 games last week against Dayton and Portland Christain! Leading the team is Andrew Apollonio with 9.5 PPG! The Trojans take on Bluegrass United Friday @ 7:30 PM!