Pete Mitchell

Drawing will be at 9 o'clock today .... Will make for some interesting plot lines. Holmes, Ryle and Highlands have looked strong of late, so which two wind up on the same side of the bracket? And since Conner will be opposite Ryle and Holy Cross is opposite Holmes, some winners are going to be facing tough first round matchups. How will playing in the big arena at NKU affect things?

Stovall was the difference IMO. If I was one the other 3 district winners, I think I would be hoping to draw away from HC.

Details?

Waiting for details on this one....

Two Hagens to deal with next year .... Twice the fun!

Has anyone brought up the old belted shorts look of the late 70s/early 80s? And I believe the home unis were white shirt, blue shorts .... with a belt! Anyone got pictures of those?

N2 my comments meant that no one else for HC could put the ball in the hole from the middle of the first quarter on, basically, besides Z. I love her game, you know that, and I was glad she was so assertive when no one else could score. Never intended to suggest she was a last resort or even a second or third option. She played well last night and HC doesn't win without her. I don't know how I could say anything more positively than that.

I agree with BN24, the threes that Baugh hit were ridiculous range, but the ones that Martin hit were impressive because I didn't think she could even see the rim when she let them go; she was very, very well defended.

Regarding Beal, she is a player and she took charge when HC was struggling to score. With respect to 8th grader Chames (who will not be 14 until July), the word "strong" is used both by me and national scouting services. I did not use it, nor, I infer, did they, to mean "best". She is very strong and a ferocious rebounder, but her complete skill set including shooting, ballhandling and man to man defense is not on a level with, say, Lexi Arden (West Virginia) or Sydney Parrish (Indiana) who are probably the two top ranked bigs for that age group.

6'1" 220

Strongest 5 in America for her age (13).

Congrats Eagles ... Good luck against Campbell Co. Love the way Jake Ohmer plays the game, would like to see him get a chance to play in the Sweet Sixteen (although I'd also like to see Dontaie Allen get the chance,too).

What calls? Honestly, I was stunned at the calls that went NDA's way at the end.

Holy Cross advances to play Holmes in the district final. Notre Dame misses the regional for the second straight year.

Reason I used Highlands is because they seem balanced and skilled, good guard play and bigs. I don't see anyone coming in to Holmes or Holy Cross that catch them up to CovCath. If not Highlands, is there anyone else?

Without Mayer, does Highlands hang with them?

Very Darwinian. Sometimes high school, tuition paying parents are more Marxist in their approach to underclassmen playing up.

I've never known CCH to take into account winning the frosh tourney when deciding to move a player up to JV. But CovCath has never had the depth they have now - no team has in northern Kentucky- and there has never been so high a premium on the JV and varsity spots at CCH. Moving Mayer up eats up one more of those high premium spots.

Who are the bigs coming in to CCH next year besides Mayer? I assume Greene is more of a 3, the way he gets up and down the floor, but there are some decent bigs at other schools (Centers, Huddleston, Salter). Who matches up to them if Mayer plays up?

Here is fodder for conversation ... No doubt Mayer will be good enough to be an impact JV player next year at CovCath. HOWEVER 3 considerations about where he plays next year (1) CovCath has an over abundance of Sophs and Jrs next year, probably 20 that would be starting JV at most other schools. Mayer will be better than many, but will they push upperclassmen down a notch to make room for him? I know his bloodlines and all, but there are lots of other kids that don't have freshman eligibility remaining with similar family history (2) he won't be seeing varsity minutes so no need to move up for that (3) CovCath has gotten a little spoiled, with all the talk of "dynasty" and has a goal of winning the frosh, JV and varsity regionals every year. Will they win frosh without him? I know there was disappointment this year that their frosh lost to Holy Cross in the regional finals, and at least some light second guessing about whether they should have played Thelen and Davin as freshmen instead of playing them strictly up on JV. So you guys may be right, maybe he never plays a minute of JV. He certainly is a ferocious rebounder, and would probably be in the top 5-6 against kids a year older in that department in northern Kentucky. But CovCath doesn't need him there, and they might need him at the frosh level. Actually, I should ask the question: does CovCath dominate frosh ball next year without him? I'd like to hear opinions about that.

Last year, the Highlands baseball team had a once in a lifetime season, were loaded and well coached and got to the state finals. Unfortunately, there was an early season incident when several players threw urine on a teammate, an incident that was widely reported in the media, but because Tricia Macke, in her position as a news anchor, reported on the story and interviewed the mother of the victim, she became persona non grata to many in Ft. Thomas. At that point, rumors began that she had an ax to grind because her son had gotten cut from the baseball team (which did not happen) and that she didn't like the Ft. Thomas Independent Schools because she did the story. I am sure she must have been concerned that her kids would be saddled with the resentment many openly expressed for her, so the decision was made that her son Spencer would attend high school elsewhere. And then it got worse.

They are not infallible, as Cooper and Holy Cross have already shown this year. So there is that. But they are always in a position to win, and you can pick out spots the last two years (against NewCath, the foul called on Zach Pangallo and last year against Newport) when a single call or bad bounce would have ended their season, and this thread would have never existed. We will see if there are any bad bounces this year, or for the next four .... I bet there are.

I meant no disrespect, and sorry that sounded offensive Stinky. I look at, for example, a skilled 6'11" kid like Walter or the freshmen Davin and Thelen and can certainly see them starting at Highlands, .. and it is a combination of the depth at CCH and struggles at HHS. I think there are also certainly years in the recent past when Highlands 3rd string football kids would have beaten the starters from the 15th best northern Kentucky school. Again, just an opinion, didn't mean to offend anyone.

Duly noted. And I will reiterate, the best run frosh tournament in the state IMO. When kids play in the finals of the tournament, with spotlights and fog, have the game carried on the radio, it is an experience that many of them carry the rest of their lives.

That is not the way it happened. Son enrolled at Holy Cross for a wide variety of reasons, including the fact that a former Division 1 coach was going to be coaching the freshman team, looked like a great fit all the way around. Things didn't work out for that coach, and the position was offered to a couple of others who passed on it. Finally, aware of her extensive AAU coaching background, Holy Cross offered her the job. She took it, fully cognizant and appreciative of the glare that it would bring to the program, good and bad. At the end of the day, Holy Cross is happy that she is involved in the program, they won the region, and the two coaches' kids (Spencer Macke and Ty Houston) scored 169 points between them in the tournament to lead the Indians, a total that I can never remember even being approached for that tournament. I don't know how they could have succeeded any more spectacularly than they did.