A poster made a point in a girls basketball thread and it got me to thinking, so I did a little research.

 

We always here how good basketball is in NKY but over the past 29 years, only 5 times did a NKY team make it to the championship game.

 

Simon Kenton (1981) and Holmes (2009) have won it.

Holmes (1990 & 2008) and Highlands (1997) have been runnerup.

 

I would think that an area the size of NKY and the supposed talented teams from NKY, there would be more appearances and championships from the NKY area.

 

What is the reason for NKY not having the success at the state tournament that it should?

NKY basketball is deep with quality teams, just not at the same level as Louisville and Lexington. NKY may have 5 teams in the top 40 - traditionally, Holmes, Highlands, and Cov Cath are all top 25, but not generally top 10 or top 5. Louisville and or Lexington will have 3 to 5 top ten teams almost every year. Scott County, Lex Cath, PRP, Male, Ballard - you can almost vote them in the top ten and not know anything about them. They are that good every year.

Talent is spread out over much of NKY. I believe their are something like 27 teams in Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties. Talent is here, just spread out.

More teams in the region as well. Before re-districting a few years back ~21 teams in the 9th. That makes winning the state tougher with the top teams having more chances of being upset and being more beat up when they got there. Another big factor could be the drain of high profile talent via transfers to Ohio (and to a lesser extent Indiana).

Talent is spread out over much of NKY. I believe their are something like 27 teams in Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties. Talent is here, just spread out.

 

Agreed. How many schools are there in Kenton County alone? 10?

Agreed. How many schools are there in Kenton County alone? 10?

 

Ludlow, Cov Holmes, Cov Latin, Cov Holy Cross, CovCath, NDA, Calvary Christian, St. Henry, Dixie, Scott, Villa, Lloyd, Simon Kenton, and Beechwood.

Did I miss one?

Agreed. How many schools are there in Kenton County alone? 10?

 

They also are the rare (only?) county with schools that play in three different regions (8th -Simon Kenton; 9th- Holmes, Dixie Heights, Holy Cross, CovCath, Lloyd, Beechwood, Villa Madonnna; 10th - Scott, Calvary Christian). If, as I understand it, they have open enrollment in the county schools (Dixie, Scott and Simon Kenton) I suppose a player in the county can effectively choose any of the three regions to compete. Perhaps they could compete in all three regions over their high school career without ever moving.

 

A few other counties have teams in two regions. Jefferson obviously and Campbell and Boone I believe come to mind. Jefferson obviously sends two teams to Sweet Sixteen every year. As I recall, just a few years ago Campbell county sent two teams to the Sweet Sixteen in back to back years from 4 different schools (Bishop Brossart, Campbell County (10th) and NewCath and Highlands (9th).

A poster made a point in a girls basketball thread and it got me to thinking, so I did a little research.

 

We always here how good basketball is in NKY but over the past 29 years, only 5 times did a NKY team make it to the championship game.

 

Simon Kenton (1981) and Holmes (2009) have won it.

Holmes (1990 & 2008) and Highlands (1997) have been runnerup.

 

I would think that an area the size of NKY and the supposed talented teams from NKY, there would be more appearances and championships from the NKY area.

 

What is the reason for NKY not having the success at the state tournament that it should?

 

With 16 regions it would seems the odds would say they would have about 2 champions over 29 years (about 1 every 16 years) and they do and about 5 championship appearances (about 1 every 8 years) and they do. So they seem to be keeping pace with the odds. The points made above seem to explain why they are not winning more than their share. That being said if Holmes were to repeat next year--certainly a reasonable possiblity with many of their star players off this years championship team returning and additional talent transferring in (Avery) (and, of course recognizing there are many reasons why they may not repeat including the many good teams around the state such as Scott Co, etc.) then NKY would seem to be beating the odds.

Talent is spread out over much of NKY. I believe their are something like 27 teams in Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties. Talent is here, just spread out.

 

I completely agree here. There is a lot of talent here, but it is very widespread throughout the region (No. KY).

A poster made a point in a girls basketball thread and it got me to thinking, so I did a little research.

 

We always here how good basketball is in NKY but over the past 29 years, only 5 times did a NKY team make it to the championship game.

 

Simon Kenton (1981) and Holmes (2009) have won it.

Holmes (1990 & 2008) and Highlands (1997) have been runnerup.

 

I would think that an area the size of NKY and the supposed talented teams from NKY, there would be more appearances and championships from the NKY area.

 

What is the reason for NKY not having the success at the state tournament that it should?

 

A lot of it has to do with the fact this board is dominated by folks from the NoKy area, and a lot of group-think goes on when it comes to assessing the teams' quality in the grand scheme of things.

 

The whole "talent is spread out" argument doesn't float. The talent is no more evenly-distributed among the area's teams than anywhere else in the state. The only difference is that the schools are just a lot closer together, geographically, than any other region in the state outside L'ville.

 

The officiating style does come into play, IMO. NoKy teams don't get out enough to see how things are called out in the hinterlands. It's always floored me in the games I've watched featuring NoKy officials over the years how the players are coddled relative to elsewhere in the state.

 

The officiating style does come into play, IMO. NoKy teams don't get out enough to see how things are called out in the hinterlands. It's always floored me in the games I've watched featuring NoKy officials over the years how the players are coddled relative to elsewhere in the state.

 

I think you're on to something there. When CCH made a few runs at state, Coach Listerman made an effort to prepare his team(s) for the type of teams & officials that they'd see down state.

 

This was done in the summer and in the regular season schedule.

Kind of a strange time in 9th region chronological history to raise this point. With Holmes being in the midst of the strongest run ever, Highlands and Boone having very strong teams, it seems this may be the golden years for the 9th region.

The officiating style does come into play, IMO. NoKy teams don't get out enough to see how things are called out in the hinterlands. It's always floored me in the games I've watched featuring NoKy officials over the years how the players are coddled relative to elsewhere in the state.

 

:thumb: That is part of it as well. I also hated how the refs called me for traveling because I pump faked 6 times before I shot the ball. Too many whistles...

Just a little FYI for everyone...give Simon Kenton 3 years and they will be extremely tough. They have more basketball talent (as a whole) than I can remember anyone having in their Freshman class this year.

All I know is 08-09 State Champs are from Nky!