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9th Region Off-Season Discussion (2026-2027)

Knight Owl
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Knight Owl

Knight Owl

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In many ways the 2025-2026 season played out as expected for the 9th Region, beginning with the total domination by Cov Cath. I don’t have the average margin of victory, but I’m guessing it was close to 30 per game with the closest game being against Dixie (18-point margin). The next two teams in my preseason rankings had good years, but not in the same league as the Colonels. Highlands was very good with 25 wins and Holy Cross, though maybe not as good as expected, did get 21 wins and advanced to the 9th Region tournament. What I didn’t see coming was the parity in the 9th Region after Cov Cath. It seemed that anyone ranked 2 through 12 could beat anyone else on a given night. I knew Ryle would be better than many expected, but I didn’t see them being the 2nd best team in the region and making it all the way to the regional final while winning 23 games. Lloyd and Newport were the two biggest surprise teams this season, with both winning more than 20 games after losing Division I – level players to graduation and transfer. Newport also won the Regional All A and advanced to the state semi-finals. Beechwood was another team that surprised with more than 20 wins, including beginning the season with ten straight wins. Conner and Dixie were two teams that were not quite as good as I expected, but still put together solid seasons with both advancing to the regional tournament and Conner making the regional semi-finals. The teams rounding out the top 12 were about as expected. Newport Catholic came on strong towards the end of the season after a slow start, getting wins against Newport and St. Henry and almost pulling off a few more upsets. St. Henry and Cooper both struggled as expected, but they also looked better down the stretch and will be much improved for 2026-2027 season.

A Look Back at the Pre-Season Predictions

(1) Covington Catholic [31W – 3L, Regional Champions, lost in 1st round of Sweet 16, Final Ranking 1]

Pre-Season Prediction: With Cooper no longer being a threat and relying on their typical stellar defense and improved 3-pt shooting, Cov Cath does not lose a game within the region and wins the 9th region tournament, with the potential to make a nice run in the Sweet Sixteen in Lexington.

(2) Holy Cross [21W – 10L, lost 1st round of regionals to Lloyd, Final Ranking 6]

Prediction: Relying on their core group of seniors and some newcomers (keep an eye on sophomore Amir Henderson), Holy Cross wins the All “A” 9th region and makes a run at the All “A” state tournament. However, they fall just short of their first regional title since 1994, losing to Covington Catholic in the regional final.

(3) Highlands [25W – 6L, lost 1st round of regionals to Conner, Final Ranking 4]

Key Fact(s): The Bluebirds had no seniors on 2024-25 team; Freshman team won regional tournament

Prediction: Led by their strong senior class and Lorenzon, who makes a last-minute decision to play basketball this season, coach Listerman and the Bluebirds cruise into the regional semifinals.

(4) Ryle [23W – 9L, regional final to Cov Cath, Final Ranking 2]

Prediction: Ryle will be the best team not named Cov Cath, Highlands, or Holy Cross in the region. But like the last two years, Ryle will fall just short of pulling off an upset in the first round of the regional tournament.

(5) Conner [15W – 13L, lost in regional semi-final to Cov Cath, Final Ranking 8]

Prediction: The Cougars beat Ryle in the 33rd District final and make a run to the regional semifinals where they fall to one of the top 3.

(6) Dixie Heights [18W-13L, lost 1st round of regionals to Cov Cath, Final Ranking 9]

Prediction: Dixie wins the 34th District but is unable to advance past the first round of the regional tournament.

(7) Lloyd [23W – 5L, lost to Ryle in regional semi-finals, Final Ranking 3]

Prediction: Lloyd makes it back to the regional tournament but is unable to make it out of the first round, despite the efforts of star Anthony Blaackar.

(8) Beechwood [21W – 9L, lost in District to Holy Cross, Final Ranking 7]

Prediction: Beechwood is in the unfortunate position of likely having to beat Holy Cross to win the 9th region All “A” or advance to the 9th region tournament. The Tigers will look to 2026-2027 to accomplish these goals.

(9) Newport [21W – 10L, lost to Ryle in 1st round of regionals, Final Ranking 5]

Key Fact(s): The Wildcats lost 6 of top 7 players to transfer or graduation

Prediction: Though Newport will be better than expected and competitive on most nights, they will fall short in the 36th District final to Highlands and lose in the first round of the 9th region tournament.

(10) St. Henry [12W – 17L, lost in District to Dixie, Final Ranking 12]

Prediction: The Crusaders will be greatly improved from last season and surprise some people, but will ultimately fall short of the regional tournament.

(11) Cooper [5W – 21L, lost in District to Conner, Final Ranking 11]

Prediction: Holthaus has a reputation of being a very good coach, so the Jaguars will be competitive on most nights. However, I don’t expect them to make it past Ryle or Conner in the 33rd District.

(12) Newport Central Catholic [12W – 18L, lost in District to Newport]

Prediction: While I expect the Thoroughbreds to struggle, coach Luhn’s teams always play hard and they will find a way to surprise and win a few games against teams ranked higher than them during the season, though still fall short of the 9th region tournament.

 

Way-to-Early 9th Region Top 12 Rankings (2026-2027)

1.       Covington Catholic (31-3)

2.       Ryle (23-9)

3.       Beechwood (21-9)

4.       Newport (21-10)

5.       Highlands (25-6)

6.       Lloyd (23-5)

7.       Dixie Heights (18-13)

8.       Holy Cross (21-10)

9.       Conner (15-13)

10.   Cooper (5-21)

11.   St. Henry (12-17)

12.   Newport Catholic (12-18)

 

Way to Early Rankings Breakdown

I’m sure it happens many years, but this year it seems that several teams are losing core groups of seniors that have been their main contributors for the past few years. By my count the region loses at least seven 1,000-point scorers (and almost eight, with Bradshaw falling just short).  Between Cov Cath, Highlands, Holy Cross, and Conner, I think only five total players return that started games regularly throughout the season, meaning that there will be a lot new faces making contributions. I didn’t catch many freshman games this year, but it is likely there a couple of sophomores-to-be that seemingly come out of nowhere to make an impact. It is also almost certain that there will be player movement that could shake up the rankings, similar to what we saw this past year with Cov Cath adding Myrick from Mason County. Newport is one team to watch as there are rumors of a key player returning for his senior year.

While Cov Cath (#1) loses a ton to graduation and will not be nearly as dominant, I expect the Blue Colonels to be the best team in the region again. The Colonels are loaded with young talent, not to mention bringing back All-Region 1st teamer and potential 9th Region Player of the Year Braeden Myrick and defensive stopper Teegan Stava from the starting lineup. After Cov Cath, I think there a few teams that will separate themselves as potential regional contenders, beginning with Ryle (#2). The Raiders bring back three starters including leading scorer and potential 9th Regional Player of the Year Holden Smith, the always-improving big man Grace Nsuti, and defensive player of the year Blake Broz. Next up is Beechwood (#3), who returns Kingston Brockett and Dylan Topmiller, who is another candidate for 9th Regional Player of the Year. In the four spot I have another team with a Player of the Year candidate (Amontae Lowe) in Newport (#4). The Wildcats will certainly move up in the rankings if rumors hold true of an impact player returning after a year away at prep school. I have Highlands (#5) at five with their heavy losses to graduation, though this also could be too low as the Bluebirds may return Lorenzen and have a ton of young talent, including freshman-to-be Amil Wimzie.

I don’t really have a good handle on how to rank teams 6 through 12 and they could probably appear in any order. Lloyd (#6) loses star Anthony Blaackar and the under-rated Isaiah Golsby to graduation, but brings back a nice young group that performed better than expected. Dixie (#7) is another team that I may have ranked too low. They lost their leading two scorers in Max Rubemeyer and Tyson Metzger, but again will be one of the bigger teams in the region with Parks Vondehaar and Hunter Seng returning. Holy Cross (#8) will be interesting to watch. They lose a ton, including a couple of 3-year starters (Luke Arlinghaus, Brady Gabbard, Note Rominger), but bring back some nice young talent that won the regional JV championship. I have Cooper in the #9 spot. The Jaguars return two key players Julienne Knuckles and Cole Stanton, with their freshman team falling just short to a dominate Cov Cath group in the freshman regional final. At #10 I have Conner. It will be interesting to see how the Cougars look without star Finn Louden, though they do bring back multi-year starter Tyler Warner and few other young players that played key roles this past season. Coach Sullivan’s St. Henry (#11) squad will look to improve in year 2, bringing back four starters including leading scorer Tyler Detzel. Rounding out the top 12 I have Newport Catholic, who loses a few key players to graduation but does bring back two starters.

Way-to-Early 9th Region Top 12 Players 2026-2027

1.       Braeden Myrick, Sr (Cov Cath)

2.       Dylan Topmiller, Jr (Beechwood)

3.       Amontae Lowe, Sr (Newport)

4.       Holden Smith, Sr (Ryle)

5.       Julienne Knuckles, Sr (Cooper)

6.       Tayden Lorenzen, Sr (Highlands)

7.       Tyler Warner, Sr (Conner)

8.       Grace Nsuti, Sr (Ryle)

9.       Kingston Brockett, Sr (Beechwood)

10.   Teegan Stava, Sr (Cov Cath)

11. Hunter Seng, Sr (Dixie)

12. Tyler Detzel, Jr (St. Henry)

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4 Quarters

4 Quarters

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Posted
On 4/3/2026 at 12:09 PM, theguru said:

Today is Reynolds Flynn 90th birthday. There is a party planned for him at Peewee’s tonight at 6.

flynn.jpg

How was the turn out?

  • 2 weeks later...
theguru

theguru

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Knight Owl

Knight Owl

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Things have been relatively quiet in the 9th region, but wanted to highlight a couple of players that made college decisions in recent weeks:

·       Anthony Blaackar (Lloyd) committed to Arizona Western College (JUCO)

·       Finn Louden (Conner) committed to Centre College (DIII)

·       EJ Walker (Lloyd) signed with Western Kentucky University (DI)

·       Drake Landrum (Boone County) committed to Mount Vernon Nazarene University (NAIA)

·       Donovan Bradshaw (Cov Cath) committed to East Mississippi Community College (JUCO)

·       AJ Davis (Ryle) committed to Capital University (DIII)

 

There a several All-Conference basketball players from the 9th region who are also excelling in their respective spring sports:

·       Malachi Kennedy (Sophomore, Dayton, Track & Field) finished 2nd in High Jump (6’0) and 110 Hurdles in Class 1A Region 4.

·       Dylan Topmiller (Sophomore, Beechwood, Track & Field) finished 1st in High Jump (6’2) in Class 1A Region 4 and 5th at KHSAA 1A State Meet.

·       Julienne Knuckles (Junior, Cooper, Track & Field) finished 1st in High Jump (6’4) in Class 3A Region 4.

·       Tyler Detzel (Sophomore, St. Henry, Baseball) led St. Henry in hitting with a .322 average.

·       Brady Bushman (Senior, Conner, Baseball) leads Conner in hitting (.393) and pitching (1.50 ERA), committed to play baseball at Wallace Community College (AL). Conner plays Beechwood in Regional semi-final today (Tuesday).

·       Anthony Coppolla (Senior, Ryle, Baseball) leads Ryle in hitting (.369) and is committed to play baseball at George Washington University. Ryle plays Dixie in Regional semi-final today (Tuesday).

Summer basketball begins this week, and I’m hoping to catch some of the games over the next month. I’ll look around for schedules on social media, but if anyone has schedules for their teams please post them.

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Cov_Cath_Hwy

Cov_Cath_Hwy

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Posted (edited)
21 hours ago, The Immortal Hulkster said:

No. That’s just varsity. The three schools will take turns playing each other. 

Really appreciate the clarification.

Edited by theguru
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Baseball Nut 24

Baseball Nut 24

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 5/26/2026 at 9:17 AM, Knight Owl said:

Things have been relatively quiet in the 9th region, but wanted to highlight a couple of players that made college decisions in recent weeks:

 

·       Anthony Blaackar (Lloyd) committed to Arizona Western College (JUCO)

 

·       Finn Louden (Conner) committed to Centre College (DIII)

 

·       EJ Walker (Lloyd) signed with Western Kentucky University (DI)

 

·       Drake Landrum (Boone County) committed to Mount Vernon Nazarene University (NAIA)

 

·       Donovan Bradshaw (Cov Cath) committed to East Mississippi Community College (JUCO)

 

·       AJ Davis (Ryle) committed to Capital University (DIII)

 

 

There a several All-Conference basketball players from the 9th region who are also excelling in their respective spring sports:

 

·       Malachi Kennedy (Sophomore, Dayton, Track & Field) finished 2nd in High Jump (6’0) and 110 Hurdles in Class 1A Region 4.

 

·       Dylan Topmiller (Sophomore, Beechwood, Track & Field) finished 1st in High Jump (6’2) in Class 1A Region 4 and 5th at KHSAA 1A State Meet.

 

·       Julienne Knuckles (Junior, Cooper, Track & Field) finished 1st in High Jump (6’4) in Class 3A Region 4.

 

·       Tyler Detzel (Sophomore, St. Henry, Baseball) led St. Henry in hitting with a .322 average.

 

·       Brady Bushman (Senior, Conner, Baseball) leads Conner in hitting (.393) and pitching (1.50 ERA), committed to play baseball at Wallace Community College (AL). Conner plays Beechwood in Regional semi-final today (Tuesday).

 

·       Anthony Coppolla (Senior, Ryle, Baseball) leads Ryle in hitting (.369) and is committed to play baseball at George Washington University. Ryle plays Dixie in Regional semi-final today (Tuesday).

Summer basketball begins this week, and I’m hoping to catch some of the games over the next month. I’ll look around for schedules on social media, but if anyone has schedules for their teams please post them.

 

Brady Gabbard (Holy Cross) committed to Thomas More University (DII).

Edited by theguru
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