Last season's results around the region...

DISTRICT 33
Boone County (14-16), Conner (20-10), Heritage (8-14), Cooper (22-7), Ryle (13-20)

DISTRICT 34
Dixie Heights (22-7), Lloyd Memorial (22-8), Ludlow (14-16), St. Henry (14-10), Villa Madonna (6-19)

DISTRICT 35
Beechwood (7-19), Covington Catholic (30-5), Covington Holy Cross (21-10), Covington Latin (1-20), Holmes (11-17)

DISTRICT 36
Bellevue (4-23), Dayton (14-15), Highlands (22-9), Newport (9-19), Newport Central Catholic (10-18)

(Regional qualifiers in Italics.)

REGION 4 SEMIFINALS
Dixie Heights 65 Covington Holy Cross 57
Covington Catholic 71 Lloyd Memorial 52

REGION 4 FINALS
Covington Catholic 59 Dixie Heights 43

KHSAA SWEET 16
Covington Catholic - Sweet 16 Semifinalist

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Do you think Covington Catholic will repeat this year and take home the 9th Region title?

Which teams do you forecast making it to the 9th Region tournament this season?

Who are some upcoming players around the region that we haven't gotten to see yet?

Which players will be competing to be the Mr. Basketball finalist from Region 9?

Are there any surprises you think we could see coming out of the 9th Region this upcoming season?

I am extremely excited about the parity this season.  It is as open a region as it has been over the last 8-10 years, IMO.   What I mean by that is I can see as may as 6-8 teams, that if they get hot at the right time, that could win the region.  I never remember it being that way in awhile.

I still think CovCath is the favorite but the other schools have narrowed the gap.  This will make for some very exciting games this year.  PUMPED for hoops!!

33rd district - I will take Cooper and Conner

34th district - I will take Lloyd and St. Henry

35th district - I will take CovCath and HC

36th district - I will take Newport and Highlands, but NCC could make it interesting.

I think there a handful of teams that can win it while CovCath has to be the pre-season favs, I would have to lean towards them not repeating this year.  I think Cooper, Lloyd, or HC will figure out a way to get to Lexington when its all said and done.  

Some interesting players to watch:

Dixie - Hudson Blank 

St. Henry - Rhett Ravenscraft

CovCath - Colin Detzel

Newport - James Turner and Tay Kinney 

NCC - Jase Iles

Cooper - Yamil Rondon

I would find it hard to believe there would be anyone besides Jacob Meyer or Evan Ipsaro as the representative for 9th region Mr. Basketball.  And despite what seems to be popular opinion at least in some other posts.  I would give the nod to Jacob Meyer.  If he becomes the all-time leading scorer in 9th region history, not sure how or why you could/would leave him off.  Certainly Evan could make a case, but that is a pretty massive accomplishment that was made a pretty big deal of a couple season's ago.  I understand that Draud didn't get the honor the year he broke the record, but Sam Vinson couldn't be denied for the 9th region honor, and arguably should have won the whole thing.

As surprises go I think there could be a different one on a nightly basis.  This could be as exciting and even as the 9th has been in a long time.

Going to be an AWESOME season in both the boys' and girls' hoops in NKY -- I'm so freaking excited and ready.  

Also, the post from @Hoops Junkie, made me wonder, when was the last time Dixie missed the 9th Region tourney?

For the record, new coach a TON of losses to graduation notwithstanding, I still think Dixie makes the 9th Region Tourney and St. Henry doesn't...but the opposite of that occurring wouldn't be terribly surprising.  This is likely St. Henry's last best chance to make some noise for the next few years, I know Coach Faust would hate to waste it.  They will lose a cubic load after this year to graduation, so I'm sure the Cru and their seniors will play with desperation all year.

St. Henry will likely be the overall longest team in the 9th.  They have several 6'4' to 6'8" size players who will all contribute.  Their Senior class is loaded with great size and guard play that is plenty capable.  If you are sleeping on the Crusaders, I'd take a closer look.  They don't have the one dominant player as in recent years, but each player who will get the bulk of their minutes are capable and will be a very difficult team to beat with that size on the court this season.   

45 minutes ago, 5-oh said:

St. Henry will likely be the overall longest team in the 9th.  They have several 6'4' to 6'8" size players who will all contribute.  Their Senior class is loaded with great size and guard play that is plenty capable.  If you are sleeping on the Crusaders, I'd take a closer look.  They don't have the one dominant player as in recent years, but each player who will get the bulk of their minutes are capable and will be a very difficult team to beat with that size on the court this season.   

I couldn't be more familiar with Fedders, Resing, Grayson, etc., solid players them all, but their guard play will be a question (does Rhet settle into that role and show that he can make some tough shots), and they don't have a ton of dynamic athletes.  Believe me, I know them well, and hope like crazy they have a great year, but I'm not sure they'll be better than Dixie, but time will certainly tell.

If the Cru can win 2 of their first 6 games than they may be on to something (at Cooper, at Conner, at NewCath, vs CovCath, at Highlands, and vs Cincy St. Xavier at Newport), but it will be a tough stretch to build a lot of confidence against.  The good thing, they are senior-laden, as I pointed out originally before you accused me of "sleeping on the Crusaders", but they are going to take a lot of body-blows to start the season.  Maybe it helps them down the road, maybe it takes some wind out of their sails, either way, Dave is great at figuring out how to put the pieces in the right places, so I'm sure they'll be fine. 

They have Dixie and Lloyd at home this year, so if they could get the #1 seed in the district it would obviously change everything for their chances to make the 9th, but otherwise, they'll likely have to beat Dixie in the 34th semis to make the 9th this year...and that won't be easy.

I would LOVE to see this crop of seniors who have been so close and played so many games together and against each other since 3rd grade, go out at NKU with a deep run.  I'm just sure the chips will fall that way.

22 hours ago, The Double Deuce said:

Going to be an AWESOME season in both the boys' and girls' hoops in NKY -- I'm so freaking excited and ready.  

Also, the post from @Hoops Junkie, made me wonder, when was the last time Dixie missed the 9th Region tourney?

For the record, new coach a TON of losses to graduation notwithstanding, I still think Dixie makes the 9th Region Tourney and St. Henry doesn't...but the opposite of that occurring wouldn't be terribly surprising.  This is likely St. Henry's last best chance to make some noise for the next few years, I know Coach Faust would hate to waste it.  They will lose a cubic load after this year to graduation, so I'm sure the Cru and their seniors will play with desperation all year.

Looks like 2000 was the last time Dixie didn’t make the region tourney. They were upset by Lloyd and Scott went on to win the district that year.

I will be very interested to see how the Indians do this year.  I think obviously Meyer can carry them pretty far but they need to use Gibson and stay out of foul trouble.  They graduated all their depth and role players last year.  This team will only have three kids that had any significant varsity time last year and all three are prone to foul trouble.  They need to play smart and HC could do very well this year. 

Bump.

I know @Hoops Junkie listed his "interesting players" to watch, which I appreciated, but I've been trying to come up with a list in some sort of order of the Top 10 (I have 11, and certainly there could be [and would be] arguments for others to be included) players in the 9th as of today.  Obviously some guys will emerge with more minutes and opportunities, the transfer into Cooper could develop into a Top 10 player (will he be there all season?), and sadly, some guys will get hurt and fall from the list.  Also, lists like Top 10 players has a lot to do with your personal lens, what you like in players, what kinds of kids you've enjoyed coaching, etc.  It is really tough, and everyone has their own agendas, no matter how hard you try and squash them.  This has nothing to do with college potential, this is about where I'd put them for THIS SEASON right now.

With all of that said, heading into the season in a couple of weeks, and sure to be panned far and wide, this would be my Pre-Season Top 10 players.  Be kind.  ?

1.  Evan Ipsaro -- CovCath

2.  Jake Meyer -- Holy Cross

3.  Jeremiah Israel -- Lloyd

4.  Caleb Brooks -- Cooper

5.  Will Herald -- Highlands

6.  EJ Walker -- Lloyd

7.  Landen Hamilton -- Conner

8.  Marquez Miller -- Newport

9.  Javier Ward -- Holy Cross

10.  Kascyl McGillis -- CovCath

+1  Matthew Resing -- St. Henry

34 minutes ago, The Double Deuce said:

I know @Hoops Junkie listed his "interesting players" to watch, which I appreciated, but I've been trying to come up with a list in some sort of order of the Top 10 (I have 11, and certainly there could be [and would be] arguments for others to be included) players in the 9th as of today.  Obviously some guys will emerge with more minutes and opportunities, the transfer into Cooper could develop into a Top 10 player (will he be there all season?), and sadly, some guys will get hurt and fall from the list.  Also, lists like Top 10 players has a lot to do with your personal lens, what you like in players, what kinds of kids you've enjoyed coaching, etc.  It is really tough, and everyone has their own agendas, no matter how hard you try and squash them.  This has nothing to do with college potential, this is about where I'd put them for THIS SEASON right now.

With all of that said, heading into the season in a couple of weeks, and sure to be panned far and wide, this would be my Pre-Season Top 10 players.  Be kind.  ?

1.  Evan Ipsaro -- CovCath

2.  Jake Meyer -- Holy Cross

3.  Jeremiah Israel -- Lloyd

4.  Caleb Brooks -- Cooper

5.  Will Herald -- Highlands

6.  EJ Walker -- Lloyd

7.  Landen Hamilton -- Conner

8.  Marquez Miller -- Newport

9.  Javier Ward -- Holy Cross

10.  Kascyl McGillis -- CovCath

+1  Matthew Resing -- St. Henry

Can't argue much over DD's top 10 +1, a few more names that I would add to the "honorable mention" if you will.

Cam Boyd - Beechwood

Cash Harney - Beechwood

Aiden Lohr - Conner

Daniel Campbell - Conner

Gavin Lutz - Cooper

Brady Hussey - CovCath

Sam Gibson - Holy Cross

 

 

Went to watch a close friends son play for Walton today up at Mt. Healthy high school. I stayed to watch the game following Waltons, which was Newport vs Withrow. They are young but boy we’re they fun to watch. The amount of playmakers and talent there is incredible. They will shock some people and teams this year in the 9th, the game felt like a regional championship and the gym was rocking the whole game. If I had to guess that scrimmage was a scrimmage the coaches were looking for. 

Lloyd will be very strong this year as well as Cooper who returns 4 of 5 starters. Yamil Rondon is just hard to guard and if Pouncy is ruled eligible I’ll take one of these two teams to represent the 9th in Lexington. 

46 minutes ago, Mr. Sixer said:

Lloyd will be very strong this year as well as Cooper who returns 4 of 5 starters. Yamil Rondon is just hard to guard and if Pouncy is ruled eligible I’ll take one of these two teams to represent the 9th in Lexington. 

These are the two teams that have the potential to come together and make a serious push in Lex.  There are several other teams that could have really good seasons and even take the region, but IMO these are the two with the highest ceiling.

2 hours ago, Mr. Sixer said:

Lloyd will be very strong this year as well as Cooper who returns 4 of 5 starters. Yamil Rondon is just hard to guard and if Pouncy is ruled eligible I’ll take one of these two teams to represent the 9th in Lexington. 

Lloyd is really thin, but certainly have some top-level talent to build around.  Lloyd, Holy Cross, and Newport all have the ability to beat everyone, but also are really thin behind their stars.  

I agree 100% with you on Cooper, they are going to be right there all year near the top of the 9th, and will absolutely be a huge factor when the 9th Region tourney rolls around.  Cooper, CovCath, and Conner are my 3 favorites in the 9th, with the three from paragraph one right behind them.