9th Region: Week 8

9^th Region: Week 8

Hope everyone is enjoying the snow and staying safe. Another week of great games in the 9^th region, including a couple of thrilling game-winning (or tying) buzzer beaters. Let’s hope the snow clears, but it looks likely that the Monday (and maybe Tuesday) games will be postponed or cancelled. Cov Cath continues to look like one of the best in KY with wins over St. Xavier (OH), McNick, and Trinity (Louisville) and remains far and away the best in the 9^th (Tier 1). Some movement this week among Tier 2/3 teams, as Highlands (#2) got easy wins in a couple of district games and Lloyd (#3) barely got past a shorthanded Beechwood team. I did bump Ryle (#4) up a spot, who continued their winning streak by beating district foe Conner. Holy Cross (#5) fell one spot after losing to Simon Kenton. Newport moves up to #6, ahead of Dixie (#7), who needed a miracle to beat Beechwood, and Conner (#8), who fell to Ryle. Beechwood remains at #9 though they could have easily gone 3-0 on the week and moved up a couple of spots. I’m adding Cooper to Tiers 2/3 in the #10 spot – I think they are clearly better than St. Henry (#12), who lost to New Cath(#11), who I’m adding to Tier 4 with St. Henry.

Tier 1: The Favorite

1.       Covington Catholic (19-1) [last week 1; preseason 1]

Cov Cath is so good. After a slow start, they beat a good St. Xavier (OH) team by 17 and then got big wins over McNick (OH) and Louisville Trinity. Athens McGillis (23.8 ppg) continues to put up big numbers for the clear best team in the region. Braeden Myrick (17.1 ppg) and Donovan Bradshaw (11.8) both are playing well and scoring in double figures. The Colonels get an out-of-region game against Campbell County at home before facing 9^th region foe Conner on the road.

Tues, 1/27 Campbell County at CCH; Thur, 1/29 at Conner

 

Tiers 2/3: Good/Solid Teams that are Not Cov Cath

2.       Highlands (17-2) [last week 2; preseason 3]

Highlands got three big wins this week against Cooper, Bellevue, and New Cath. The Bluebirds continue to show great balance - Finn Bouldin (13.3 ppg), Nathan Rickard (10.5 ppg), Owen Ebert (11.6 ppg), Vincent Listerman (9.9 ppg), and Tayden Lorenzen (12.6 ppg). Highlands has four games this week, including Walton (on Monday, likely to be cancelled/postponsed) and Campbell County on Sunday.

Mon, 1/26 Walton at Highlands; Wed, 1/28 Dayton at Highlands; Thurs, 1/22 at Boone County; Sun, 2/1 Campbell County at NKU

3.       Lloyd (13-4) [last week 3; preseason 7]

Lloyd picked up three wins this week, including coming back in the last few minutes to knock off Beechwood at home. Anthony Blaackar leads for the Juggs and is now averaging 22.8 ppg. Sophomore Jason Kabeya and senior Isiah Golsby are also in double figures. Just one game this week, a big district road matchup with Dixie.

Mon, 1/27 at Dixie

4.       Ryle (12-6) [last week 5; preseason 4]

Ryle continues to stay hot, winners of eight straight, and got a nice come from behind win over district rival Conner. Ryle has three double-digit scorers, AJ Davis (11.9 ppg), Holden Smith (16.7 ppg), and Anthony Coppola (12.4 ppg). The Raiders have three games this week, including home games with St. Henry and Simon Kenton and Bourbon County on the road.

Tues, 1/27 Simon Kenton at Ryle; Fri, 1/30 St. Henry at Ryle; Sat, 1/31 at Bourbon County

5.       Holy Cross (15-4) [last week 4; preseason 2]

Only one game for Holy Cross this past week, a loss to Simon Kenton on the road.  Luke Arlinghaus (18.9 ppg) continues to lead Holy Cross in scoring with Nate Rominger (13.8 ppg) and Brady Gabbard (15.2 ppg) also scoring in double figures. No games schedule for this week.

No Games

6.       Dixie Heights (12-5) [last week 6; preseason 6]

Dixie won their only game of the week over Beechwood that included miracle play by Tyler Metzger to send the game into overtime (Dixie trailed by 5 with 2 seconds left). Dixie is led by Max Rubemeyer (16.5 ppg), Tyson Metzger (12.2 ppg), and Hunter Seng (10.1 ppg). The Red Colonels have two home games this week, including a big district matchup with Lloyd at home.

Tues, 1/27 Lloyd at Dixie Heights; Fri, 1/30 at Grant County

7.       Newport (11-4) [last week 9; preseason 9]

It wasn’t easy, but Newport is heading to the All A State Semifinals with two last second wins over Lexington Christian and Harlan. Junior Amontae Lowe (21.1 ppg) went coast-to-coast in the final 6 seconds to steal the first round win, and Irvan Nichols (8.5 ppg) got a last second basket to beat Harlan. Other players making contributions include Keegan Farrel (9.1 ppg, 6.4 rebounds) and Davae Andrews-Glover (7.7 ppg). Newport will have to wait till next Sunday to try and bring home a state championship, where they get Lyon County in the semi-finals (also Bellevue and New Cath this week).

Tues, 1/27 New Cath at Newport; Thurs, 1/29 at Bellevue; Sun, 2/1 Lyon County at Owensboro Sportscenter; Sun, 2/1 TBD at Owensboro Sportscenter

8.       Conner (9-7) [last week 7; preseason 5]

Conner lost to district rival Ryle in their only game of the week. Louden scored 31 in the loss and continues to lead the region in scoring, averaging 24.4 ppg while Tyler Warner (11.9 ppg) is also scoring in double figures. Just one game again this week, but it is a big one as they go on the road to face Cov Cath.

       Fri, 1/23 Ryle at Conner

9.       Beechwood (13-7) [last week 8; preseason 8]

Beechwood went 1-2 on the week and have lost 7 of their last 10. The Tigers would probably like to have the last minute or so of both of their losses back, as they somehow blew a 5-point lead with 2 seconds against Dixie, and lost in the last 30 seconds at Lloyd. Topmiller, 20.0 ppg continues to lead the Tigers in scoring, who lost another starter (Knasel) in the Dixie game to injury. Two games this week for Beechwood, including a home district matchup with Holmes.

Tues, 1/27 at Boone County; Fri, 1/30 Holmes at Beechwood

10.   Cooper (3-14) [last week 10; preseason 11]

Cooper went 1-1 on the week, falling to Highlands and blowing out district rival Boone County. The Jaguars (through 14 games) are led by Julian Knuckles (11.5 ppg), Elijah Philpot (10.6 ppg) and Cole Stanton (11.9 ppg). Cooper has just one game this week, a tough road matchup at DeSales.

Wed, 1/28 at DeSales 

 

Tier 4

11.   Newport Catholic (5-13) [last week 13; preaseason 13]

NewCath lost to Lloyd and Highlands and beat St. Henry this week. The Breds are led by John Luhn with 14.8 ppg. This week the Breds get road games against Newport and Ludlow.

Tues, 1/27 at Newport; Fri, 1/30 at Ludlow.

12.   St. Henry (8-10) [last week 11; preseason 10]

The Crusaders got wins against Holmes and Boone County while also falling to Newport Catholic. St. Henry is led by sophomore Tyler Detzel (8.8 ppg) and junior Blake Stevens (8.2 ppg). St. Henry has three games this week, including a tough road matchup at Ryle.

Tues, 1/27 Scott at St. Henry; Thurs, 1/29 Cincinnati Trailblazers at St. Henry; Fri, 1/30 at Ryle

 

The Rest

13.   Holmes (5-12)

Bulldogs went 1-2 this week, including a loss to Bellevue. This week the Bulldogs will look to get wins against Calvary Christian, Dayton, Beechwood, and Scott.

14.   Boone Co (5-13)

The Rebels went 0-3 on the week. Three games this week.

15.   Ludlow (7-10)

Ludlow went 2-1 on the week. The Panthers have Calvary, New Cath, and Bellevue this week.

16.   Dayton (12-4)

The Greendevils won their only game of the week against Heritage. This week the Greendevils have three games.

17.   Bellevue (6-10)

The Tigers went 1-1 this week. This week Bellevue has four games.

18.   Heritage (2-15)

Heritage lost to Dayton and Ludlow. The Eagles have three games this week.

19.   Villa Madonna (3-14)

Villa went 0-2 on the week. The Vikings have three games this week.