9th Region: Week 8

Well the game of the year certainly lived up to the hype. Cooper took down CovCath in overtime to supplant the Colonels as the number 1 team in the 9th. Meanwhile, Dixie Heights is also surging, the 33rd is setting up for a fun district tournament, and the top nine starts to really open up a gap over everyone else.

Rankings

1. Cooper - Not only did the Jaguars get the thrilling overtime win over CovCath, they also decimated Boone and beat Fleming County on the road. St. Henry, Highlands, and Jennings County (IN) all visit Cooper this week. No 9th region team has yet to beat the Jaguars.

2. Covington Catholic - The Colonels fell to Cooper as well as Trinity in overtime before getting a one point win over Centreville (OH). The Colonels are going to be just fine and they also now know they are capable of running the Cooper defense out of the gym, at least for a quarter. Can they get the win over the Jaguars if they see them again, that’s the question. 

3. Dixie Heights - Winners of 8 straight, the Dixie Colonels are headed into a big week of district play. They defeated Franklin County in their only game last week. This week they face Lloyd, Villa, Grant County and Ludlow. They are a essentially 3a and 3b with Lloyd right now so it will be nice to see what team actually prevails on the court and not just in the rankings. This game will almost certainly also determine the 1 seed in the district.

4. Lloyd - The Juggernauts fell to Simon Kenton but got a nice decisive win over Holy Cross. They have the aforementioned district showdown against Dixie befor taking on Brossart and Beechwood.

5. Beechwood - The Tigers traveled to Owensboro for the All A State but were quickly dismissed by the hometown Owensboro Catholic Aces. Jack Sullivan had 18 point and 7 rebounds. A stat that sticks out to me is that Beechwood only shot 6 free throws. They come back to NKY this week with games against Boone, Holmes and Lloyd. 

6. Newport - The Wildcats had wins over Bellevue and Holy Cross last week. This week features a much different slate of games as they square off against Highlands in a game that will most likely decide who will get the 1 seed in the district. They then take on Archbishop Hoban (OH) and St. Xavier (KY) at NKU. It is a week that will give them opportunities to show they are still a regional contender.

7. Highlands - The Bluebirds got a double digit win over arch rival and district foe NCC last week. They host two more district opponents this week in Bellevue and Newport. The week wraps up with a road game at Cooper and a Sunday contest at NKU against Campbell County. The Newport game goes alongside Lloyd-Dixie as the co-game of the week for sure.

8. Conner - A big win for the Cougars as they take down the Ryle Raiders. There is a very good chance that game gets played again as a district semifinal. This week features Scott and St. Henry on the schedule as the Cooper game looms ahead.

9. Ryle - The Raiders may have fallen to Conner but they did get wins over Boone and Western Hills. They face Simon Kenton, the Cincinnati Trailblazers and Augusta this week.

10. Holy Cross - The Indians are on a 3 game skid and hope to break it with a win at home against Grant County. Mason County and Walton-Verona wrap up the week.

11. Newport Central Catholic - The Breds fell to CovCath and Highlands last week. They host Scott and Moeller (OH) this week.

12. Holmes - The Bulldogs had a great week, getting wins over St. Henry and St. Patrick. This week they face Pendleton, Beechwood and Dayton.

13. St. Henry - The Cru beat Brossart by 1 but fell to Holmes. They have a tough week ahead as they face Conner and Cooper.

14. Boone County - The Rebels only have one win this month so far. They face Beechwood and Campbell this week so that streak will continue barring a nice upset.

15. Heritage - Heritage continues their bid for a conference title as they square off with Bellevue, Ludlow both home and away, and Williamstown.

16. Ludlow - The Panthers’ busy week ahead includes that home and away with Heritage as well as games against district contender Dixie and conference contender Calvary.

17. Villa Madonna - The Vikings haven’t won since beating Dayton on January 2nd. The good news is they play them again this week.

18. Bellevue - The Tigers got a win over Carroll County last week and this week includes another winnable game as they take on rival Dayton.

19. Dayton - The Green Devils lost in close games the last time they played Villa and Bellevue. It will be interesting to see if they can pull off a win this time around against either of them.

20. Latin - The Trojans play this week against Brown.