No Cooper or Tim Sullivan at the 9th Region Tournament this year. That's a first in a while.

Looks like it's shaping up for a CovCath/Ryle final. I feel like that Conner/Highlands game could be a really good opening round game, but unfortunately the winner will only get to play one more game after that ?

Slickest one yet!

I'm thinking the Conner/Highlands game will be evenly matched.  CovCath should dominate Dixie.  I do look for Lloyd to win against Holy Cross.  Don't be surprised if Newport pulls off a win against Ryle.  

45 minutes ago, theguru said:

Slickest one yet!

Mine might not be pretty, but its the original. Ha

Given all the chaos with everyone beating everyone else (outside of CCH) during the regular season, it was a pretty quiet week with no big upsets in the 9^th region. The only team ranked in the top 8 that didn’t make it to the regional was Beechwood, but we knew that one really good team was going to be left out of one of the toughest districts in the state. All the favorites won their respective districts, setting up a regional tournament where Ryle, Newport, Holy Cross, and Lloyd all have a legitimate shot to play Cov Cath for a regional championship (sorry Dixie, Highlands).

33^rd District Preview (at Ryle)

Mon, 2/23 at 5:30PM Boone County 68 -  Heritage 39

Wed, 2/25 at 5:30PM Ryle 79 - Boone Co 33

Wed, 2/25 at 7:30PM Conner 65 -  Cooper 51

Fri, 2/27 at 7:00PM Ryle 70 – Conner 58

No upsets in the 33^rd. Conner took care of business against Cooper while Ryle cruised to a district championship. Ryle’s Holden Smith was named the Tournament MVP.

 

34^th District Preview (at Lloyd)

Mon, 2/23 at 7:45PM Ludlow 72 -  Villa 63

Wed, 2/25 at 6PM Lloyd 74 – Ludlow 45

Wed, 2/25 at 7:45PM Dixie 52 - St. Henry 37

Fri, 2/27 at 7:00PM Lloyd 66 – Dixie 45

Dixie was able to get by upset-minded St. Henry to advance to the regional tournament. Lloyd continued their domination of the 34^th, but did get a bit of scare against Ludlow (who led at the half). Lloyd dominated Dixie in the final and earned their 4^th straight district title. Anthony Blaackar from Lloyd was named the Tournament MVP.

 

35^th District Preview (at Holy Cross)

Wed, 2/25 at 5:30PM Cov Cath 101 -  Holmes 43

Wed, 2/25 at 7:30PM Holy Cross 45 – Beechwood 31

Fri, 2/27 at 7:30PM Cov Cath 74 – Holy Cross 44

Cov Cath won their district tournament games by 58 and 30 over Holmes and Holy Cross. In one of the best district semi-final matchups, Holy Cross survived a bloodbath against Beechwood to advance to the regional tournament.  Luke Arlinghaus left the Cov Cath game early with an injury, let’s hope he’s OK. Cov Cath’s Athens McGillis was the Tournament MVP.

 

36^th District Preview (at Bellevue)

Mon, 2/23 at 6PM Bellevue 66 – Dayton 64

Wed, 2/25 at 6PM Highlands 89 – Bellevue 32

Wed, 2/25 at 7:45PM Newport 49 - Newport Catholic 47

Fri, 2/27 at 7PM Highlands 60 - Newport 50

Newport survived against a scrappy New Cath squad in the district semi-final, but Highlands was too much in the district final as the Bluebirds finally got a district title after a few years of Newport dominance. Nathan Rickard from Highlands was named Tournament MVP.

 

9^th Region Tournament Preview

Sat, 3/7 at 1PM Highlands vs. Conner

These two teams played a few weeks ago and Conner was able to pull off the upset (thanks to a big game from star Finn Louden). While it wouldn’t surprise me to see Louden go crazy in this game and put up huge numbers, I think Highlands wins this game. Expect a very high scoring game that will be competitive until Highlands pulls away in the fourth quarter for a 10-point win.

Sat, 3/7 at 2:30PM Covington Catholic vs. Dixie

These two teams also played a few weeks ago, with Dixie playing the Blue Colonels closer than any team in the 9^th region this year. I don’t expect that to happen in this game, as Cov Cath will not let Dixie hang around and will win in blowout fashion by 30 plus.

Sat, 3/7 at 6:30PM Lloyd vs. Holy Cross

I think this will be the best game of the day. Holy Cross has had a solid season but has not quite lived up to their lofty preseason expectations, while Lloyd has overachieved and been one of the better teams in the 9^th region (and also ranked in the state). Lloyd beat up Holy Cross pretty good on the Indians home floor earlier in the year, but I think this game will be much different. I expect a low scoring, back and forth game, with Lloyd eventually escaping with a win by a few points.

Sat, 3/7 at 8PM Ryle vs. Newport

I also expect the nightcap to be a tightly-contested game. Ryle has been very good over the last 2 months of the season while Newport has greatly exceeded expectations with more than 20 wins. In what will also be a very low scoring game, the Raiders will use their strength and physicality to pull away from Newport in the 2^nd half and win by 10 points.

 

Semi-Finals

Sun, 3/8 at 6:30PM (Predicted) Cov Cath vs. Highlands

This game will be a fun one to watch, as Cov Cath may reach 100 points in the contest. If Highlands can get hot from 3 this game could get interesting. However, Cov Cath is just too good and Highlands won’t be able to eclipse the 80-point mark and the Colonels will roll into the regional final.

 

Sun, 3/8 at 8PM (Predicted) Lloyd vs. Ryle

If this game happens I think it may be the best one to watch in the whole regional tournament. They played twice during the season with each picking up a win. Both these teams have made pretty good arguments to be considered the 2^nd best team in the region and the winner will earn the right to see if they can hang with (or even) beat the mighty Colonels. I predict Ryle will win this by 2 in a close, low-scoring game.

 

Finals

Tues, 3/10 at 7PM

Bump.

On 2/28/2026 at 4:31 PM, KillerCats09 said:

I'm thinking the Conner/Highlands game will be evenly matched.  CovCath should dominate Dixie.  I do look for Lloyd to win against Holy Cross.  Don't be surprised if Newport pulls off a win against Ryle.  

I don’t see Newport taking care of the ball well enough to beat Ryle. The last two games have not been impressive. I hope I’m wrong. 

Why are the games so late on Sunday night? Was that the only time the arena was available? Especially with the time change, that late on Sunday will be difficult to watch as a neutral fan. I really enjoy the 9th region and planned to attend all games. Might just be one game Sunday for me. 

9th Region Quarterfinals Results:

Conner 79 Highlands 76

Covington Catholic 71 Dixie Heights 41

Lloyd Memorial 63 Covington Holy Cross 50

Ryle 56 Newport 46

? 2000-25 9th Region Tournament 

From the turn of the century, a generation's worth of history ~

Average wins per tournament appearance

1. 1.64 Covington Catholic 

2. 1.60 Holmes 

3. 1.29 Boone County 

4. 1.17 Cooper*

5T. 1.00 Newport 

5T. 1.00 Simon Kenton^

7. 0.94 Newport Central Catholic 

8T. 0.67 Highlands 

8T. 0.67 Lloyd Memorial 

10. 0.64 Conner

11. 0.63 Dixie Heights 

12. 0.50 St. Henry 

13. 0.38 Holy Cross 

14T. 0.33 Beechwood 

14T. 0.33 Ryle

16T. 0.00 Bellevue 

16T. 0.00 Scott^

16T. 0.00 Villa Madonna 

> Minimum of one tourney appearance. 

(9th Region *2009-25, ^2000-05)

Champs/Finalists: Tourney Appearances 2000-2025 

Cov Cath 8/6: 25

Holmes 5/4: 15

Newport 3/0: 13

New Cath 2/3: 18

Cooper* 2/2: 12

Highlands 2/1: 21

Boone Co 1/2: 7

Dixie 1/2: 24

Ryle 1/0: 12

St. Henry 1/0: 16

Conner 0/3: 14

Beechwood 0/1: 6

Lloyd 0/1: 9

Simon Kenton^ 0/1: 3

(9th Region *2009-25, ^2000-2005)

47 minutes ago, Runcible Owl said:

? 2000-25 9th Region Tournament 

From the turn of the century, a generation's worth of history ~

Average wins per tournament appearance

1. 1.64 Covington Catholic 

2. 1.60 Holmes 

3. 1.29 Boone County 

4. 1.17 Cooper*

5T. 1.00 Newport 

5T. 1.00 Simon Kenton^

7. 0.94 Newport Central Catholic 

8T. 0.67 Highlands 

8T. 0.67 Lloyd Memorial 

10. 0.64 Conner

11. 0.63 Dixie Heights 

12. 0.50 St. Henry 

13. 0.38 Holy Cross 

14T. 0.33 Beechwood 

14T. 0.33 Ryle

16T. 0.00 Bellevue 

16T. 0.00 Scott^

16T. 0.00 Villa Madonna 

> Minimum of one tourney appearance. 

(9th Region *2009-25, ^2000-05)

Champs/Finalists: Tourney Appearances 2000-2025 

Cov Cath 8/6: 25

Holmes 5/4: 15

Newport 3/0: 13

New Cath 2/3: 18

Cooper* 2/2: 12

Highlands 2/1: 21

Boone Co 1/2: 7

Dixie 1/2: 24

Ryle 1/0: 12

St. Henry 1/0: 16

Conner 0/3: 14

Beechwood 0/1: 6

Lloyd 0/1: 9

Simon Kenton^ 0/1: 3

(9th Region *2009-25, ^2000-2005)

Really good stuff to know.