Mr. Sixer

As of today, no doubt. There will be challengers before it’s all said and done but you are correct, they are the leaders in the clubhouse currently.

Congratulations! He’s definitely a baller.

I will be the first to pick Cooper out of the 9th. While Newport just defeated Cooper in a very close game this week in a game was played without its two top players who were injured yet the Jags played stellar defense after the 1st qtr being down by 17 to hold Newport to its 2nd lowest scoring total of the season at 48 points. They Newport to just 3 points in the 2nd quarter. Again, Newport still won the game so they deserve to be the favorite, today. I’m simply of the belief that when Cooper is at FULL strength they will win the 9th. They’ve already beaten CovCath on their home floor by 10 without arguably their best player in Andy Johnson. I want to be clear, I love Newport, Coach Snapp and what he’s built but I believe Cooper’s depth at full strength will be a deciding factor should there be a rematch. JMO

That’s not a bad thing.

The inevitable has happened before the season has ended.

Atmosphere reminded me of the glory days at Holmes with the crowd. Congrats to Newport for holding off the comeback from the Jags. Kinney is certainly a baller and it’s clear to see why he’s the best player in NKY and probably top 5 in the state. Newport is definitely the best team in NKY. The Jags certainly shot themselves in the foot in the 1st qtr being down 17 but Coach Sully’s troops battled hard to make it a game cutting it to just 2 points with the ball but couldn’t convert. The Jags showed they can play with the Newport even despite not having two starters. Cooper will look different the remainder of the season as Andy Johnson returns this weekend and will bring back some offense that’s been missing. Good luck to both teams the rest of the way and we are all in for a treat come regional time!!

I look for the team to be at full strength for the stretch run.

Troublesome, absolutely. Do they need Yamil to make a deep run in the tournament, maybe, but I caution folks if they plan to count the Jaguars out due to injuries. Coach Sully will have everyone raising their game on the defensive end of the floor and they will demonstrate just how deep this team is. This team already goes 10 deep without arguably their best player in Andy Johnson so I fully expect Jaiden Combs to raise his game to an even higher level, if that’s possible with the way he’s been playing along with Shaun Pouncy becoming even more dominant. Isaac Brown has already been raising his game at a sneaky level. Ball handling and play creation on the offensive end is certainly unmatched and takes a hit with Yamil missing, so I look for a committee approach offensively to try and make up for his absence but I fully expect to see is more low scoring, grimy defensive games until they get their injured guys get back. Coach Sullivan is use to this “rodeo” and based upon the long stretches of injuries during the ‘16-‘17 season he knows how to get his team to raise their games, especially on the defensive end, when his top players go down for extended periods. Should be interesting.

Holy Cross continues to have a more than solid season. Coach Johnson has been impressive in his first year as a head coach with a very young team.

I’ve known Nelson since he was 8 years old and been around him and his family since that time. I’ve even been around him coaching AAU basketball for many years. While he’s not been a coordinator, he does have a ton of football coaching experience at Scott as an assistant and a HC at the middle school level in basketball. People need to stop talking about him being too young for this and too young for that and discounting him not being a coordinator. He’s been around enough coaching circles and gained valuable experience. Should he surround himself with some assistant coaches with deeper knowledge, absolutely as teams are only as good as their assistants. I heard they same negative comments about the current Holy Cross boys basketball coach who was too young, too inexperienced, wasn’t a “real” assistant at the college level, so forth and so on, yet all Coach Johnson is doing is competing and winning and just took his team to the “All-A” 9th region final! You can’t judge a coaches’ desire and passion by their age because that’s nothing but a number. Not saying he’s the person for the job or not, but he’s certainly worthy of strong consideration if in fact he’s interested.

Congrats to Coach Snapp and the Wildcats! Way to bring it back to NKY!!

As I said in my very first sentence, I didn’t have a problem with Newport being #1 so I wouldn’t call anything being really dispelled. I stand by the points I made. Congratulations to Newport winning today and I hope they win the All-A. The head to head matchup next month will be good and will give some answers as I still believe either team could win. Hope all players are completely heathy when they game is played.

Don’t fully know the extent of his injury but have seen him at a few games around town walking around in his boot. Base upon what @GoBucks97 is posting, are they rushing him back too soon? I know he’s valuable to their team, but if he’s at 60% is there a risk of more injury? Not judging but I would want him there for the long haul. Hoping it’s just one of those injuries where he can’t make it any worse. Praying he comes out healthy as he is an exceptional talent. Good luck to Newport!

Wasn’t pretty but it was effective. Jags had way too many turnovers and Coach Sully voiced his “concern” as such ?. Jaiden Combs is playing at an extremely high level and once again was the workhorse.

I have no problem with putting Newport at #1 but there will need to be some deep thought before doing so, so I’ll play devil’s advocate. Yes, Newport has played an aggressive schedule, but I watched their game with CCH in great detail and when CCH went zone, Newport had no answer. That 10-pt loss was on Newport’s floor which made it even worse. Newport’s starting 5 is extremely good if not the best in NKy but I do have questions about their depth beyond players 6-7. Hopefully Kinney will be fully healed by the time they play Cooper next month. I could make the argument that what Cooper did in Park Hills has not been done in some time by any 9th Region team in some time. It’s a tough place to play and Cooper never trailed from the end of the 2nd quarter to the end of the game and that, to me, showed that this team is finally beginning to put it together and playing with the toughness Coach Sully demands. To say they the Jags won’t make it out of their district is a stretch in my opinion. Sure, the Ryle loss is a head scratcher and certainly a bad loss, but I don’t see the Jags blowing another 10 point lead to Ryle and playing that poorly again if the RPI dictates those two end up playing again in the first round. Cooper is currently going 10 deep and just beat the #5, #4 and the #1 teams back to back to back WITHOUT their best player who is expected back late next week. Again, either team could be #1 but it doesn’t matter. Tournament time matters and I see the Jags on the rise at the right time with one of the best players in the region set to make his return. JMO Should be fun to watch.

Borchers was a year later in 2008. Unless I am missing someone, both Trosper and Borchers are the longest tenured coaches at one school in NKY.

I can see your point and agree with your viewpoint. However, Cooper was the dog in that regional final and not many saw Cooper winning that game, especially falling behind 11 early in the first half. That team was special and knew how to take care of the ball, score but most importantly play defense! Hendrix and Runion led that team defensively as they were the back to back to back regional defensive players of the year. The bulk of their scoring came from McNeil and Kunkel but that team was outmanned sizewise. The current team has the potential to be as good when they take care of the ball and play defense like they did last night.

It was close but won’t split hairs. That CCH team in had Von Handorf, Mayer and the big 7 footer Walter. CCH beat Cooper in the regular season and Cooper won the regional final to get to Rupp. I will agree that Cooper had a strong starting 5 that included both the younger McNeils, Kunkle, Hendrix and Runion on that team. The 9th is blessed with some phenomenal basketball talent along with great coaches and it’s great to watch!

I believe Cooper, CCH and Newport are the favorites, no doubt. The next team closest to that group would be Lloyd. Boone has played well most of the year but they’ve dropped the last two. While Ryle did beat Cooper, they are not in the same conversation as being able to pull off a regional championship IMO. Here’s my breakdown on the top 4 who, IMO, have the best chance to represent the 9th Cooper-extensive depth and can go 11 deep and are on the rise and should continue to peak come tourney time CCH-the best big man and is just a force with pieces to win the region of course just based upon their history Newport-excellent team and Coach Snapp squeezes everything he can out of his squad. How Kinney comes back from his injury will play a huge part in determining if the Wildcats can repeat Lloyd-the smoothest big man in the region that can stretch the floor with his game but I question their depth Again, just my opinion but I won’t be surprised if any of these 4 win the 9th

Big win for Scott! Congrats to Coach Fromeyer and the Eagles!!

FACTS, with one exception, I would venture to say CCH has had the better players 17 out of 17 times. They had the better team in ‘17 and last year at the regionals and the Jags were “supposed” to get beat, they had the better team tonite especially without one of Cooper’s best players and were “supposed” to get beat but Cooper just laced them up, like their coach instructs them to do, played Sullivan defense and got it done. Yeah, we’ll “take” Coach Sully! ??

EXCELLENT WIN for the Jags! Definitely an impressive road win against the #1 team in the region and the #5 team in the state. Having the lead from halftime to the end of the game and winning by 10 was equally impressive!! Can’t wait to see this team when Andy Johnson comes back in a week or so!! With this 3rd straight win since the Ryle loss, Coach Sullivan has this team on the rise at the right time!!

Excellent win for the Jags! To go over to Park Hills and get a win, let alone a 10 point win, doesn’t happen often. Rondon was the best player on the court with his ball handling, shooting and passing which was probably his best game of the year even when CCH went “Box and 1” on him. Jaiden Combs is demonstrating a great amount of toughness that’s been missing this season and the rest of the team is feeding off of it especially on the defensive end. I really thought Cooper’s bench gave Coach Sully some strong quality minutes, especially Austin Alexander who didn’t have the height to guard Miller but used to pure strength to box out and chip in with a few buckets. The football players are finally finding their basketball stride as well as Shaun Pouncy who is finding his rhythm too coming back from his injury from last season. Johnson getting back soon will be huge asset for a deep run in the tournament. I was very impressed with Miller’s defense! He is a phenomenal shock blocker! I would say he had at least 12-15 blocks. Should be a fun run to see who gets the 9th Region crown.

Consistency will be key for Cooper. They are building on the tough loss to Ryle with 2 straight wins with the latter being a very good Lloyd team! Boone has been playing very well and is senior laden team, however, they only have 2 more 9th region games left on their schedule (Cooper and Dixie) so I question their schedule to date when the only teams they have beaten in the 9th with winning records are Ryle and Holy Cross. They do not play CCH or Lloyd this year and I ma certainly not saying they are not good at all, but I look forward to seeing the outcomes of their games against Cooper, Williamstown, Campbell Co. McNick (OH) and Dixie which should paint a better picture on how they might perform come tourney time.

Great game but got sloppy for both teams down the stretch but Cooper was able to hang on and make free throws. I will say this, Jaiden Combs is an absolute workhorse and beast on the glass! EJ’s game is very smooth and he can play inside and out. He’s definitely worth the price of admission. All in all it was a good win for Cooper who is starting to put it together. Their depth is incredible as they went 10 deep and that was without Andy Johnson who should be back soon. Lloyds starting guards are very quick but the team struggles a bit when they get in foul trouble due to lack of depth. There are the 2 favorites in 9th but that gap is not as wide as some may think. It’s early still but I won’t be shocked if someone other than the top 2 comes out of this region as there are several teams that can play.