9th Region Week 2 Review

[Ballfan34]

9th Region Rankings Week 2

     1.Covington Catholic 

• Head Coach: Scott Ruthsatz 
• District 35
• Current Record: 5-1

The Colonels stay at #1 after the 2nd week of action. Cov Cath did hit a bump in the road when they went down to North Laurel and ran into one of the best players in the state in Reed Sheppard. However, the colonels were able to get back on track against DeSales as they posted a 68-62 victory away from home! Colonels also took care of business against Indian Hill where they won 67-48! Covington Catholic have been big man orientated as they have gone down to Mitchell Rylee and Chandler Starks each leading the way in PPG (Rylee - 18.2) (Starks - 14.0). while both grabbing rebounds like machines (Rylee - 9.0) (Starks - 8.0). The guard play for the colonels has been great as well, lead by Ipsaro, Stocks, Horn, & McHale, these 4 can fill it up and knock down shots at any moment in the game! Covington Catholic has a tough scheudle to close out the week as they take on Trinity down in Louisville Friday and then travel to Fort Thomas to take on Highlands! 

 

     2. St. Henry 

• Head Coach: Dave Faust
• District 34
• Current Record: 5-1

The Crusaders stay at #2 in the rankings after having a tough week of close games to a variety of 9th region games. St. Henry started off the week playing against Newport Central Catholic in the annual 9th Region All "A" Classic where they handled business and posted a 54-42 win against a solid Breds team. Wyatt Vieth and company then traveled to Fort Mitchell to take on the Beechwood tigers in an exciting game where Jude Bessler scored 17 points to lead the way in a 59-52 victory against the Tigers. In the Championship St. Henry battled a tough Holy Cross Indians team and survived a 58-54 victory where Wyatt Vieth took over at 19 points. St. Henry takes on Bishop Brossart January 21st at 7:30 PM and play NCC the following day with back to back home games! 

 

     3. Highlands 

• Head Coach: Kevin Listerman 
• District 36
• Last season: 3-2

The Birds battled off against Dixie last Thursday in a great game that went into double overtime. Sam Vinson lead the way 34 points and while grabbing 10 rebounds. Highlands had a tough game against Lexington Catholic where they weren't able to keep Ben Johnson in check as he exploded for 29 points. I've been saying it again and again, this Highlands team won't win the 9th Region if they can't come together on the defensive side of the ball! On the bright side, the Birds took care of business against a solid team in Oldham County yesterday and had a nice 4th quarter to pull away 73-63. Birds take on Covington Catholic this Saturday at home at 6:00 PM in the game of the week! 

 

     4. Beechwood 

• Head Coach: Erik Goetz
• District 35
• Current Record: 5-1

The Tigers stay at 4 after taking care of business against Villa Madonna 85-24. Shortly after though, the Tigers fell to St. Henry and lost 59-52. Scotty Draud lead the way with 17 points and 11 rebounds. They also posted a solid victory against a scrappy Newport team where they came out on top 67-52. Mr. Draud lead the way again at 29 points while Cameron Decker lead the way rebounding the ball at 9. Will Downton has been solid this year as he has averaged 14.8 PPG and has probably had a few nasty dunks along the way. This Beechwood team will be scary if things are clicking on all cylinders by tournament time! Next up the Tigers  Lexington Christain Friday and then play Ryle at home at 7:30 PM. 

 

    5. Dixie Heights

• Head Coach: Roger S. Stainforth, II
• District 34
• Current Record: 3-2

After playing Highlands so tough in Fort Thomas, I had to give the red colonels some love and moved them up to 5. To recap that night, Dixie fought like hell in a great battle between 2 good teams! Jason Summe was hot and was hitting from anywhere on the floor and had a team high of 22 points while teammate Billy Wogenstahl was an absolute presence down underneath recording 18 points for the night! Dixie hasn't played since then due to COVID-19, but play Friday against Grant County at Home at 7:30 PM then travel down to Central Hardin as they take on North Hardin at 2:30 PM. 

 

     6. Holy Cross 

• Head Coach: Brandon Grammar
• District 35
• Current Record: 3-3

Holy Cross stays at number 6 for this week! Some may disagree because Conner beat Holy Cross earlier in the season, but the Indians did not have one of their better players in Brandon McClendon who had chipped in 10 points in a loss to St. Henry in the Championship of the All "A" Classic 58-54. Holy Cross might've had an easy path to the championship in the tournament, but they certainly did not disappoint in the championship game! Leading the way for the Indians was Sophomore Jacob Meyer with 17 points. This week Holy Cross takes on Ludlow at home tomorrow at 7:30 PM! 

 

    7. Conner 

• Head Coach: Matthew Otte 
• District 33 
• Current Record: 4-1

Conner fans could make the same argument that I just made against them as 2 of their key players were out against Dixie in Cole Skiles and Aiden Saffell especially after beating Holy Cross 59-42. But I put Holy Cross above them just because they played St. Henry, one of the top teams in the state, and played them well with McClendon. At the end of the day, it's only one spot and it's not the end of the world. This Conner team will come back stronger with hopeful speedy recoveries from Saffell as Skiles has already returned to action as they posted wins against South Deaborn 58-55 and Grant County 71-60. I don't know much about South Deaborn as they are from Indiana, but I know Grant County lost to Beechwood earlier in the year 66-37 which helps my case again, as Beechwood lost to St. Henry by 7 and Holy Cross only lost by 4. However, like I said, once Saffell gets back I think this Conner team will be at full strength and will be another scary team in the 9th! They take on Cooper tonight in a good one and Lawrenceburg, Indiana. 

 

8. Ryle 

• Head Coach: Keaton Belcher
• District 33
• Current Record: 4-2

Ryle jumps from 11 to 8 in the rankings this week. The Ryle Raiders took care of business against 2 County teams in Nicholas and Carroll as they beat both by an average of 20-30 Points. They took home a close one against Holmes 51-50. Donovan Robinson leads the Raiders with 19.3 PPG along with Tyler Bush at 17.5 PPG. Ryle takes on Cooper Friday @ home @ 7:30 PM and then they turn around and play Beechwood at the Den at 7:30 PM Saturday! These 2 games should tell us a little bit more about the Raiders! 

 

9. Holmes

• Head Coach: Bradford Carr
• District 35 
• Current Record: 3-3

Holmes jumps from 12 to 9 in the rankings this week. Holmes had a pretty hard schedule last week as they had to travel to Ryle where they lost by only 1 then traveled down to Lexington Catholic where they lost 85-60 but battled! To end the week on a good note though, the Bulldogs beat NCC 68-55 which ultimately moved them up in the rankings! The Bulldogs take on a tough challenge this Saturday as they take on the St. Xavier Bombers at home at 6:30 PM. 

 

  10. Cooper 

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

Cooper moves back into the region at the 10 spot as they haven't played since January 9th! Tonight will tell us more about this Cooper Squad as they take on Conner tonight @ 7:30 PM. They also play Ryle Saturday at 7:30 Pm! I'm sure this Cooper squad is itching to get back on the court to play someone and prove me wrong for moving them down! 

 

 11. Newport Central Catholic

• Head Coach: Ron Dawn
• District 36 
• Current Record: 2-3

The Thouroughbreds lost 2 this week against solid teams in St. Henry and Holmes! Each loss was only by 12 and 13 points so this team battles none the less! Leading the way this season has been Junior Forward Joel Iles at 18 PPG and 6.2 RPG. Kaedon Butts has also been a big contributor to the team as he has been averaging 11.5 PPG and 6.0 RPG. NCC takes on St. Henry again this week in regular season play Saturday at St. Henry at 7:30 PM. 

 

12. Newport

• Head Coach: Rod Snapp 
• District 36 
• Current Record: 1-4

Newport moves up to #12 in the rankings after a tough week of games. They lost all 3 of their games to Holy Cross, Brossart, and Beechwood. However, they battled in all of their games. KeAndre Nelson is leading the wildcats at 18.2 PPG while also grabbing down 6.2 RPB. The Wildcats take on Boone Saturday as this will be a good one! 

 

 13. Ludlow

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

I would have been considered a hypocrite in my eyes had I not moved up Ludlow above the teams who have been hit with COVID-19 as I moved Cooper down because of it. Ludlow had a themselves a week as they beat St. Patrick 74-42 where Ryan Gaiser lead the way with 18 points. After that the Panthers took on Calvary Christain at home and won in a close one 74-72 where they were lead by Liam Singer with 20 points! Ludlow takes on Holy Cross Thursday and Gallatin County Saturday. 

 

14. Lloyd Memorial 

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

The Juggernauts were hit by COVID-19 and are looking forward to playing against Newport next week in a good matchup! 

 

 

    15. Boone County 

• Head Coach: Nathan Browning
• District 33
• Current Record: 1-3

The Boone Country rebels were hit by COVID-19, but right before they were able to get in a game against Simon Kenton where they lost 92-62. They look to play against Newport this Saturday in a good one! 

 

     16. Dayton

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

The Dayton Green Devils were hit by COVID-19! They look to get back out there against Williamstown next week! 

 

    17. Villa Madonna 

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

Villa Madonna was also hit by COVID-19 and has had to sit out a few games!  They look to play against Heritage County next week! 

 

     18. Bellevue

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

 Bellevue was hit by COVID-19 and look to get back out on the court against Covington Latin next week! 

 

    19. Heritage Academy 

• Head Coach: Jerry Miles
• District 33 
• Current Record: 0-2

Heritage Academy took a tough loss to Holy Cross 87-26 where Keegan Kennedy was able to come up with 14 points! They look to play against Calvary Christian tomorrow at 7:30 PM! 

 

     20. Covington Latin

• Head Coach: Joe Hornback
• District 35
• Current Record: 0-3

Covington Latin took a hard loss to Bluegrass United this week 77-18. Leading the way is Andrew Apollonio at 9 PPG. They take on Christian Educational Consortium Friday at 7:30 PM! 

[allsport71]

Thank you, nice job, appreciate your time and input.

[B-Ball-fan]

Thanks...nice breakdown!