BluegrassPreps.com 9th Region Week 3 Review and Rankings:

3 weeks into the season we're starting to get a feeling for whose got game,  who is struggling, and who is beginning to gel as a team. There are many teams that have similar strengths, so on any given night they can beat up on each other and come out with a different result depending on the night. As of now I'm fairly confident that the Top 10 rankings are close to accurate, but my gut says that this could easily change from week to week as we see more games played. 

Some of the more interesting developments in Week 3 are as follows:

While Jacob Meyer is showing why he might be the best player in the 9th Region with his 38 points per game, Covington Catholic totally dismantled the Indians in their 35th District seeding game 87-45 limiting Meyer to a season low of 11 points. 

The Highlands Bluebirds consistently keep finding ways to win, and are now running with a 5 game winning streak, but two weeks in a row they've had close competitive games maybe with teams they were expected mostly to fair better than, but were in questionable games deep into the 4th period. One good example is that the Holmes Bulldogs who have mostly struggled so far this season went to Ft. Thomas with the intent to give the Birds a game, and indeed they did, keeping things interesting well into the 4th quarter until Highlands began pulling away winning 71-59. 

Holy Cross beat number 8 in the rankings Ryle 87-83, suggesting lots of parity within the 9th Region this season. 

The Cooper Jaguars keep rolling and getting it done.  After a win against Ryle 64-55, they now hold a 3-0 record in the 33rd district seedings, and 6-1 overall. They have an edge over Conner, Ryle, and Boone Co. with those 3 mentioned teams playing each other very close. 

Last week I gave a shout out to the then 4-0 Ludlow Panthers, but this past week saw them going 1-2, losing firstly to the Villa Madonna Vikings in a 34th district squeaker 54-53 where they entered the 4th period down 14, went on a 19-4 run in the first 3:30 minutes of the 4th, winning that period 24-11 forcing turnover after turnover, and cashing in on it, having a 10 point run to start the quarter, then a 9 point run connecting on 3 3's in 30 seconds. Villa connected on a last second shot by Henry Thole, and a rough way for the Pathers to lose their first game after charging back so strongly. They followed up that game with another loss to Bracken County 75-65 where they were mostly in the game until Bracken pulled away in the 4th. After those two losses they commandingly beat the Dayton Greendevils 84-62.

The Panthers are led by a fantastic freshman, Matthew Griffin who has an incredible basketball IQ for his age, and averaging 20 ppg. They are a fun fiesty bunch to watch where they rely heavy, but not entirely on the 3 point shot. With the benefit of them broadcasting their home games on youtube, and their first 7 games all being home games, I've enjoyed watching a team that has no real chance playing with the big boys of the 9th Region, but still playing their guts out, and having generally favorable results, and again led by a freshman. Their next game is at St. Henry in a 34th district seeding game on Dec. 28th, and it'll be interesting to see how the fair against the Crusaders. 

Ok...Now onto the rankings:

 

1). Covington Catholic - (6-1)

The Colonels emphatically established just how far above they are against this season's 9th Region powerhouses by completley dismantling the Jacob Meyer led Holy Cross Indians 87-45, and limiting Meyer who has a 38 ppg average to only 11 points. Now they've made it to the quarterfinals of the King of the Bluegrass @ Fairdale by beating Trinity 68-51, will play Fairdale in the quarterfinals at 6:00 on Sunday in a quarterfinal field that consists of North Laurel, North Oldham, George Rogers Clark, Ashland Blazer, Male, and Dorman(Roebuck) SC. 

2). Dixie Heights - (5-1)

The Red Colonels took care of business again this week beating NewCath 75-57, then Newport 65-37. They are lead by Keirnan Geraci averaging 22 ppg, and Billy Wogenstahl avergaing 20 ppg. They also have a powerful and reliable supporting cast of Logan Landers, Jay Flynn, and the fantastic sopomore Hudson Blank. Dixie will play Dec. 21st-23rd in the Legacy Nissan Dribble Drive Challenge at South Laurel in a field of 10 that includes Cooper, with their first game against Harlan on Dec. 21st. 

3). Highlands - (6-2)

The 3rd Week of play saw the Bluebirds beating the Camels of Campbell Co. 59-54, and then the Holmes Bulldogs 71-59. They've consistently been led by Zac Barth, and Will Herald who with 7 games stats to go on both are averaging 18 ppg. They also have a reliabe supporting cast with Oliver Harris, Leyton Read, and Cole Kocher. 

4). Holy Cross - (4-2)

The Indians suffered a severe spanking this past week in a 35th District seeding game against the almighy Covington Catholic Colonels 87-45, where they held Jacob Meyer (38ppg) to only 11 points. They followed up that loss with a close win againts the Ryle Raider  87-83 seeing Meyer lead all scorers with 43 points. Javier Ward is proving to be the Indian's dependable second scoring option. On Dec. 21st-Dec. 24th Holy Cross will play in the annual Swauger Holiday Classic at Bellevue in a 16 team field that also includes other 9th Region teams; the hosts Bellevue, Lloyd, Newport, and Holmes. The Indians will face the 5-2 Robertson Co. Black Devils who are led by senior Justin Becker who is also averaging 38ppg. Should be interesting to see he and Jacob Meyer go to work. 

5). Cooper - (6-1)

The Cooper Jaguars keep rolling and getting it done.  After a win against Ryle 64-55, they now hold a 3-0 record in the 33rd district seedings, and 6-1 overall. They have an edge over Conner, Ryle, and Boone Co. with those 3 mentioned teams playing each other very close. They also beat Beechwood 67-57. The Jags have had consistent scoring from a varied cast of characters in Caleb Brooks, Montana Phillips, Berry Blake, Gavin Lutz, and Ollier Trevor with the first four of these guys having led at least once in the high scoring of their 7 games. Week 4 sees the Jags competing in the Legacy Nissan Dribble Drive Challenge, Dec. 21st-23rd in a field that also consists of Dixie Heights. The Jags will first face Rockcastle County from the 12th Region. 

6). Conner - (6-1) 

The Cougars led by Landen Hamilton averaging 19 ppg, got it done this week with a win over Simon Kenton 54-48, then Campbell County 70-62. This week sees them playing in the Scott Winter Classic with a field that also consists of the hosts Scott, and Simon Kenton. 

7). Lloyd - (4-0)

The Juggs beat Bracken County 62-55, and had a game with Newport cancelled due to COVID. Scoring for Lloyd has come from multiple players with consistent scoring coming from Ryan Davis, Garrett Vogepohl, and Jeremiah Israel. The Juggs will play in the Swauger Holiday Classic at Bellevue Dec. 21st-24th. They first play Williamstown on Dec. 21, and Carroll County on Dec. 22. 

8). Ryle - (4-4) 

Ryle beat Boone County in a district seeding game, 74-71 with a last second shot. then went on to losing in a close one with Holy Cross 87-83. Their lead scorer is Donovan Robinson who is averaging 20 ppg. On Dec. 21st the Raiders travel to Ft. Mitchell to take on the Tigers of Beechwood. 

9). St. Henry - (3-4) 

The Crusaders lost to Paintsville 58-52, then beat Montgomery County 66-46 both at Rowan County in their holiday classic. The Cru will travel to Alexandria to face the Campbell County Camels on Dec. 20th, then a disctrict seeding game Dec. 22nd at home against Villa Madonna. 

10). Beechwood - (4-2)

The Tigers lost at home to Cooper 67-57, then beat Frankfort 62-56. I don't have enough stats yet on Beechwood to determine his scoring average, but hands down Cameron Boyd is their bread and butter hanging somewhere in the range of 20 ppg if not more. The Tigers have a game at home against Ryle on Dec. 21st at 3:00. 

11). Boone County - (3-3)

12). Newport Central Catholic - (2-4)

13). Holmes - (2-6)

14). Newport - (1-4)

15). Villa Madonna - (3-5)

16). Ludlow - (5-2)

17). Dayton - (4-4)

18). Heritage Academy - (3-4)

19). Bellevue - (1-8)

20). Covington Latin - 0-5)

Great write up as always!

Also a shout out that Dixie's Geraci joined I believe the 1,000 point club during their last game ( @ColonelswearBLUE)