? ⛹️ | The Top 10 teams and players in the 9th per the C-J's preseason poll of coaches.

● Teams

1. Cov Cath, 2. Holy Cross, 3. Highlands, 4. Ryle, 5. Conner 

6. Lloyd, 7. Dixie, 8. Beechwood, 9. Newport, 10. Cooper 

● Players 

1. Anthony Blaakar, Lloyd; 2. Athens McGillis, Cov Cath; 3. Finn Louden, Conner; 4. Cash Harney, Cov Cath; 5. Brady Gabbard, Holy Cross

6. Luke Arlinghaus, Holy Cross; 7. Amontae Lowe, Newport; 8. Finn Bouldin, Highlands; 9. Anthony Coppola, Ryle; 10. Mark McCutchen, Holmes

? courier-journal.com/kentucky-high-school-basketball-team-rankings-2025-26-khsaa-boys

* The breaks between 5/6 are for readability.

On 11/15/2025 at 11:28 AM, Shotwhisperer75 said:

Love Blaackar’s game — he’s talented and fun to watch. But if we’re being honest and looking at real numbers + real competition + real defensive attention, the Region 9 MVP debate isn’t close.

SEASON AVERAGES (Last Year):

Athens McGillis: ~20 PPG

Blaackar: ~15 PPG

And Athens put those numbers up while being the defensive focal point for every team — face-guarded, doubled, boxed-and-one, full scouting reports built just to slow him down. Last year at Lloyd, the focal point was EJ, not Blaackar. Completely different defensive treatment.

Now look at the games that actually matter — the ones that decide seeding, reputation, and who steps up under pressure:

HEAD-TO-HEAD vs Cov Cath (Last 2 years):

Athens: 23 last year, 32 the year before

Blaackar: 4 points vs Cov Cath last year

VS GREAT CROSSING:

Athens: 28 and 21

Blaackar: 4 points

VS COOPER (9th Region postseason):

Athens: 29

Blaackar: 6

These aren’t opinions — these are region-defining games. Athens dominated every single one.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE:
Cov Cath plays one of the toughest schedules in Kentucky. Lloyd absolutely does not see that level of competition.
Stats only matter when they’re earned against real competition.

DEFENSIVE ATTENTION:
Here’s where the comparison really breaks: If Blaackar gets the same defensive attention Athens has gotten his whole life, he’s not responding the way people think he will.
Athens has been game-planned for since middle school — and still averaged 20 a night.

That’s impact that translates everywhere.

So when you compare:

Season averages

Strength of schedule

Defensive attention

Production in big games

Head-to-head matchups

Postseason performance

AAU résumé

Leadership & intangibles

It’s not close.
This isn’t about emotion — it’s about basketball.If Region 9 MVP is based on facts, the answer is:

Athens McGillis. Is 9th MVP
 

Both Blaackar and McGillis are amazing players and you are probably right that McGillis has a better resume. Though I do think it is hard to compare some of their numbers based on the different styles of play. McGillis averaged 20 ppg (46%) but took a lot more shots, while Blaackar averaged 15 ppg shooting at almost 60% clip. You mentioned a couple of games where Blaackar struggled, but Lloyd did play some other pretty good teams where Blaackar did well, for example 16 points against St. Xavier and 19 points in a win against Ashland Blazer.

I just think that McGillis overall numbers (mainly scoring) may not look as impressive this year because Cov Cath has Harney, Bradshaw, and now Myrick to go along with several other really talented players. I think McGillis and Myrick both could score 20-25 ppg and maybe more early in the season before the football guys come back. I heard that both scored 25+ in their first scrimmage this year.

I'll be really interested to see how Lloyd and Blaackar do without EJ Walker and some of the other talented players that graduated. While I know that Lloyd has a few pretty talented sophomores, right now KHSAA website only has four total players listed on Lloyd's roster (Blaackar, Golsby (Sr.), Lewis (Sr.), and Coleman (Jr.)). I just think that Blaackar is not going to have a lot of help and going to put up monster numbers (25+ ppg) and be named the region player of the year.

1 hour ago, Runcible Owl said:

? ⛹️ | The Top 10 teams and players in the 9th per the C-J's preseason poll of coaches.

● Teams

1. Cov Cath, 2. Holy Cross, 3. Highlands, 4. Ryle, 5. Conner 

6. Lloyd, 7. Dixie, 8. Beechwood, 9. Newport, 10. Cooper 

● Players 

1. Anthony Blaakar, Lloyd; 2. Athens McGillis, Cov Cath; 3. Finn Louden, Conner; 4. Cash Harney, Cov Cath; 5. Brady Gabbard, Holy Cross

6. Luke Arlinghaus, Holy Cross; 7. Amontae Lowe, Newport; 8. Finn Bouldin, Highlands; 9. Anthony Coppola, Ryle; 10. Mark McCutchen, Holmes

? courier-journal.com/kentucky-high-school-basketball-team-rankings-2025-26-khsaa-boys

* The breaks between 5/6 are for readability.

Thanks for posting! A lot of agreement with this list and the Northern Kentucky Boys Basketball Coaches Association, which also put out their top 10 teams/players last week https://linknky.com/sports/basketball/2025/11/17/nkgbca-weighs-in-with-top-10-teams-players/

1. Cov Cath (unanimous) 2. Holy Cross 3. Highlands 4. Conner 5. Ryle

6. Campbell County (10th region) 7. Simon Kenton (8th region) 8. Lloyd 9. Dixie 10. Beechwood

Top ten players

1. McGillis 2. Blaackar 3. Louden 4. Harney 5. Davie (10th region)

6. Rominger 7. Coppola 8. Gabbard 9. Listerman 10. Bilton (8th region)

On 11/13/2025 at 11:42 AM, theguru said:

Kelsey Sorrell Memorial Schedule

Simon Kenton High School in Independence, Ky.
Saturday November 22nd
Varsity in main gym and JV in auxiliary gym

St. Henry vs. Cincinnati Country Day (10:00 AM)
Scott vs. St. Bernard (11:20 AM)
Cov Cath vs. Oak Hills (12:40 PM)
Conner vs. LaSalle (2:00 PM)
Simon Kenton vs. Harrison (3:20 PM)

Cov Cath won their scrimmage on Saturday against Oak Hills by either 2 or 4 points...did so without any of the football guys there to help: Cash Harney, Donovan Bradshaw, Dylan Gaiser, Cash Myers, or Dylan Courtney. Can't really complain about that.

On 11/14/2025 at 11:12 AM, Honey Badger said:

Anyone have any background info on how Simon Kenton has been chosen to honor hosting this great memorial? I know it has been hosted there for quite a while. With Kelsey being a Notre Dame Academy graduate, her brother Tyler being a Covington Catholic graduate and their parents living in Erlanger for atleast 30+ years I was just wondering if there was any significance with SK being tied into the equation.

Host it there because it is the best school! Just kidding I know Casey Sorrell went to SK. 

Don't sleep on  Dixie they 6'6 Seng and 6'6 270 pound Calhoun who is only a Sophomore. Calhoun will be a fun one to watch his dad was a good basketball player at Western Hills.

On 11/16/2025 at 5:26 AM, Mr. Sixer said:

In theory this number will be 6 footballers as I believe freshman Brandon Smith will find some spot mins on varsity at some point during the season. He’s currently producing major mins on the football team and will be an asset. He definitely should be on the JV roster as he’s not a typical freshman. 

Smith played with the Varsity during the summer. He will definitely get minutes on the Varsity team.

On 11/27/2025 at 7:41 PM, MaddenCurse44 said:

Don't sleep on  Dixie they 6'6 Seng and 6'6 270 pound Calhoun who is only a Sophomore. Calhoun will be a fun one to watch his dad was a good basketball player at Western Hills.

I think they finish second in their district. Oliver Niehues will be a big producer for them with ball handling duties, assists, and getting buckets.

Welcome to Week 1 in the 9th Region! A lot of good games this week, including a matchup of two of the top 5 teams in the 9th Region. Cov Cath, Lloyd, Cooper, and Ryle also face off against teams ranked as among the best in Kentucky (based on KSR rankings) on Saturday. We will also find out how good the new-look Cooper and St. Henry squads look as they are thrown right into the fire with some difficult week 1 games.

 

Key Week 1 Matchups:

Monday (12/1)

Simon Kenton at Conner 7PM

Pendleton County at Lloyd 730PM

 

Tuesday (12/2)

Highlands at St. Henry 730PM

Campbell County at Dixie 730PM

Scott at Holmes 730PM

 

Wednesday (12/3)

Gallatin County at Beechwood 730PM

Ludlow at Boone County 730PM

 

Thursday (12/4)

Holy Cross at Cooper 730PM

 

Friday (12/5)

Conner at St. Henry 730PM

Simon Kenton at Lloyd 730PM

NewCath at Scott 730PM

 

Saturday (12/6)

#23 Ashland Blazer vs. Lloyd at Highlands 3PM

Cooper at #1 St. Xavier (Louisville) 4PM

#2 Covington Catholic at Lexington Catholic 430PM

Holy Cross at Conner 230PM

South Oldham at Ryle 730PM

 

Preseason 9th Region Top 10

1 1.       Covington Catholic

22.       Holy Cross

33.       Highlands

44.       Ryle

55.       Conner

66.       Dixie Heights

77.       Lloyd

88.       Beechwood

99.       Newport

110.   St. Henry

1

1.      

2 hours ago, Knight Owl said:

Pendleton County at Lloyd 730PM

My projected starting lineup for the Juggs.

Sr. Isiah Golsby

Sr. Anthony Blaackar

Jr. Isiah Coleman

So. Demareon Peterson

Sr. Billy Lewis Jr.

Juggs by 35

There has been some speculation on something special potentially happening out of the Fort, we will see….

Heard the same. Indoor soccer has its purposes.