Week 3 in the 9th Region is now in the books and we continue to learn more about the makeup of the competition. Covington Catholic and Newport are clearly the two contenders at the moment with Cooper and Lloyd waiting in the wings as they continue to evolve as teams. We then probably four distinct groups below the four favorites - a tier of darkhorses, a tier of "need to continue developing" teams, the NKAC Division 3 teams, and then the remaining two teams. Let's recap last week action and look forward to the week ahead which is dominated with holiday tournaments.

 

1. Covington Catholic - The Colonels, fresh off their victory over Newport, started their week off strong with dominant wins over St. Xavier of Cincinnati and Newport Central Catholic. Their week ended with what was almost a blow out loss to La Lumiere but they were able to claw back in the game for a respectable 74 to 60 loss. Brady Hussey is shooting lights out from long distance, currently sitting right below 57 percent from three-point range. Caden Miller is leading the way on the glass with 9.6 rebounds per game. And rounding out the fearsome foursome that is currently piloting the success for CovCath are Athens McGillis and Cash Harney, both averaging double digit points per game. The Colonels travel over the river this week to the Queen City Classic in Cincinnati to play Archbishop Hoban out of Akron and McNicholas from Cincinnati.

2. Newport - Another week has passed in which Newport has proven itself to not just be one of the best two teams in the region, but truly one of the best teams in the state. After a true road win at Ryle, the Wildcats defeated mighty Huntington Expression Prep out of West Virginia by 3 at Griffin Elite. Taylen Kinney had 22 in the win over Huntington Expression Prep. Now comes the King of the Bluegrass at Fairdale where they open with Washington County. Newport already has the attention of Northern Kentucky. With a great week at KoB, they will probably get the attention of the rest of the state.

3. Cooper - The Jaguars are not yet at full strength and they have still compiled an impressive set of wins to start the year. Week 3 saw them defeat Simon Kenton and squeak out a win over district foe Conner before falling to Legacy Charter out of South Carolina at Griffin Elite. Isaiah Johnson has been a consistent scoring threat since Andy Johnson's injury as a Yamil Rondon and Chris Rodriguez round out the dominant scorers for this current short-handed iteration of Cooper. If both Johnsons, Rondon, Rodriguez and Jaiden Combs can ever get on the court this same time as well as all the Pouncys, this is a team that can certainly hang with CovCath and Newport. But will that happen? They face Oldham County, Aiken (Ohio) and Dixie in Scott's Winter Classic.

4. Lloyd - EJ Walker scored 29 in a five point victory over NCC and 20 in a loss to IMG Academy of Florida at Griffin Elite. Walker and the Juggernauts get another week of tests as they head to the Jim Rose Classic at Lexington Christian where they open up with the host Eagles.

5. Boone County - The Rebels racked up wins over Augusta and Ryle last week. Maddox Jones scored 49 points between the two games to lead the way for Boone. They travel to the Capital City Holiday Classic where they open up with host school Franklin County.

6. Highlands - The Birds traveled out of region to start the week and fell to Campbell County but bounced back with a pair of wins at home against Oldham County and Tates Creek. Brayden Moeves is up over 20 points per game on the year with Nathan Vinson right behind him at 18.4 points per game. They host Walton and Ashland this week.

7. Dixie Heights - Dixie got a pair of blowout wins over Holmes and Bracken County. Griffin Derry scored 24 in the win over the Bulldogs. The Colonels are going to a holiday event but stay in Kenton County as they play in Scott's Winter Classic against Scott, Oldham County and Cooper.

8. Ryle - The Raiders had a pair of losses this week against Newport and Boone County. Landon Lorms is up over 15 points per game. They travel to the Beth Haven Holiday Classic where they are starting with Bullitt Central and Atherton.

9. Holy Cross - Coach Ricardo Johnson's group is 5 - 1 in his debut season but their schedule is definitely lighter up front. They registered wins last week over Roger Bacon, Trinity Christian and East Carter. They travel to the Railroad Classic at Estill County where they open with Wolfe County. William McElheney is leading the way on the glass at 9 rebounds per game and will face a tough matchup again Wolfe County's Skylar Ritchie who is averaging 8.2 rebounds per game. 

10. Conner - The Cougars played in just one game last week and it was a thriller. They fell to district rival Cooper by 1. Finn Louden is averaging over 21 points per game. They play in Scott's Winter Classic against Aiken, Simon Kenton and Oldham County.

11. St. Henry - The Crusaders had a pair of close games on their home court as they fell by four to Scott and won by four over Villa Madonna. Andrew Reis had 25 in the win over Villa. They play in Sayre's Jim Lankster Classic this week against Bluegrass United, Sayre, and Green County.

12. Newport Central Catholic - The Thoroughbreds really play a comprehensive schedule where they face small schools in their district like Dayton and Bellevue as well as the regional contenders like CovCath, Lloyd, Newport, and Cooper, and teams out of state of a certain significance. Last week saw a pair of losses to Lloyd and CovCath but a win over Ludlow. They face St. Charles of Columbus, Ohio, and Archbishop Hoban of Akron at the Queen City Classic.

13. Beechwood - The Tigers played just one game last week and it was a win over New Richmond of Ohio. They face Williamstown and Cincinnati Country Day next week. 

14. Ludlow - Disclaimer - teams 14 through 18 are all NKAC Division 3 teams and they are all beating each other and the division is dripping with parity. Ludlow had a trio of home games last week, convincingly defeating Bellevue before falling to Villa and Newport Central Catholic. They open with Bryan Station in the Capital City Classic in Franklin County this week.

15. Bellevue - The Tigers fell to Anderson County and Ludlow. They host Dayton before traveling to Bell County for the Redmond Auto Group Holiday Classic.

16. Villa Madonna - The Vikings fell to Heritage and St. Henry but bested Ludlow. Henry Thole had 21 points and 27 rebounds in the win over the Panthers. They travel to Trinity Christian this week.

17. Dayton - The Greendevils defeated Calvary and Roberston County before falling to Raceland. They have one scheduled game in December remaining, a road trip tonight to Bellevue. 

18. Heritage - Heritage defeated Villa and Calvary this past week. This host Whitefield Academy this coming week.

19. Holmes - The Bulldogs may not belong this low but to get out of this position they are going to have to win a game. They fell to Dixie this past week. They are off this week.

20. Covington Latin - The Trojans defeated St. Pat's on the road. They are off this week. 

Great work @se7ens, thank you!