Big Red

Big win for NDA, led by 20 points from Lacey Bradshaw. I watched this game online. Bradshaw and Feldman were very aggressive and effective attacking the basket throughout the game. Sacred Heart has size, speed, and shooting, but were not able to get on track on the road. NDA plays 9-10 kids who all look to be 5'8"-5'10" tall, and played solid team defense. NDA led by as many as 15 in the second half.

I think what matters is that the NDA players and community are ecstatic with this hire.

NDA announced Suli Kayed as new coach. He is also a King's Academy coach, and moving from his current role as Boone County Boy's coach.

Covington Catholic might be the biggest wildcard to move way up or be most disappointing. I'm told Starks grew noticeably. Adding Mitchell Riley to Starks, Colin McHale, and Boydston makes them bigger and much more athletic than last years front line. I heard the Sophomore transfer point guard is the real deal and "special" to play along with Donovan Stocks, Murphy, and Horn. On paper they reloaded in a big way, but this is a mix of kids from OH and transfers. Will they have the leadership and chemistry of the past teams?

Unless he changed back, Rylee has been at CCH and I thought was cleared to play. With Rylee added to Starks, Mchale, Stocks, and Boydston, that is a big, deep, and athletic front line. The 6'8" transfer has not been cleared. I am not aware of status.

Vinson plus those shooters vs. CCH and their size might make for one of the most entertaining matchups in the state.

Upon further review on my comment about Simon Kenton, it looks like South Oldham is playing well and could be tough from Region 8.

Not alot of discussion this year. I think people are happy some soccer has been played. We are all happy for this years Seniors, in particular, and hoping things continue to get through playoffs! I've been lucky enough to see many of these teams, and in looking at several top team scores from Lex Cath tournament, here is a summary: NKY is competitive again and has several of the top teams in the state that will battle for one spot in the 9th ninth region. Highlands - Still the team to beat with 2 wins over NDA. Their formula for success is simple - Very Good Coaching + Kids play their guts out + excellent goalie play = Very tough to beat. If you want to beat the Birds, be ready to scrap for 80 minutes and have a plan create scoring chances. Coach gets the most out this group. A good win over Dixie and only loss to Paul Laurence Dunbar. NDA - As big, fast, and athletic as any team in the state. Physical Talent all over the field and their A game is tough to match. They don't always bring their A game and Highlands seems to have their number. Playing well of late based on their scores. 5-1 victory over Dixie is a good showing. Dixie has some very good wins and might be a top 5 team in state. Other wins over Lex Cath, SK, and very good Cincinnati St. Ursula. Dixie - Real talent in midfield and Up top. They play physical, make things ugly, and its effective in high school soccer. I don't think they were able to push NDA around like they do other teams. Close game against Highlands and looks like they put it on Paul Laurence Dunbar (good team) 4-0. Simon Kenton - Will probably make the Sweet Sixteen. They have several high level players, are well coached, but overall do not have the depth of talent that they have had in past years. Good win vs. Assumption. Close losses to Lex Cath and Paul Laurence Dunbar, and a pair of lopsided losses to NDA Cooper - Cooper is currently undefeated! I have not seen Cooper play, but are clearly pretty competitive this year. They have 2 ties, Dixie and Covington Holy Cross. Lexington - Others Please add commentary Lex Cath, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Frederick Douglas, and Lafayette all look to be competitive based on scores that I'm seeing. Scores indicate close games amongst them and beating each other. Lex Cath might be top team in this region - I did see Lex cath play vs. NDA. They are very fast and athletic. Wins over SK, Sacred Heart, Assumption, and Paul Laurence Dunbar make them a top team in the state. Looks like they split with Assumption 1-1 on the year and their only other loss 1-0 to NDA. Louisville - Have not seen any Louisville team play. Please add comments. Once again, it looks like Assumption and Sacred Heart have good teams, but maybe not dominant talent they have in the past.

Thank you for that list. Looks good. I would add Madelyn Lawson from Dixie, assuming coming back from knee injury.

Will be interesting to see what happens that. How "committed" will parents and kids be to another start up league that came out of nowhere.

The DA had a rather significant impact on many kids, families, high schools, and the area clubs. Now, as of yesterday, it is officially gone. If we are fortunate to get sports back in The Fall, 20 studs per age group now have to figure out if they are going to play high school, and what new club to join. How does this impact the high school and club landscape?

"I took the following 2 players over CJ based on him being a 2/3: Ricardo Johnson: State Runner Up and All Tourney Team Soph Year State Champion and Tourney MVP Junior Year Region Runner Up Senior Year All State as Soph, Junior, and Senior Career Record as a starter: 95-11 Brandon Hatton: 6 year varsity letterman/starter (only missed one game out of 184) 3,045 Career Points All State as Soph, Junior, and Senior Led his team to a Region Title as a Soph I didn't see much of CJ his junior or senior year so honestly can't give a fair evaluation of him. I saw everyone in my top 5 a lot during their high school careers and they were the best 5 I saw. Just an opinion. Not that big of a deal." I agree this is tough, because you can only list "YOUR" top 10 of the players you have seen. Bolden and Nick Ruthsatz were the best two high school players I remember seeing. CJ Frederick's SR season was right there. It's tough not to include Hatton, but I didn't see him play much. I also didn't see Elijah Pittman, nor Ricardo Johnson. My top 10 of those I have seen: Nick Ruthsatz - As stated, best, smartest, most dominant, and fun to watch "high school" player I have seen. Bolden - Right there with Ruthsatz, their matchups were simply awesome. CJ Frederick - His Sr season, he was unguardable, period. State run was as impressive and dominant from both an individual and team perspective as any. Hatton - Most dominant player during his 6 year run. McNeil (Cooper) - slight edge over Kunkel. 6th man - Kunkel * Tough to leave off McDonald, Weyer, Von Handorf, and certainly sounds like Ricardo Johnson belongs

"Why the dislike Big Red?" I've been consistent on the topic. I don't understand how you can watch these games, and continuously dismiss Disken.

Completely agree with Straight Shooter. The story was more about, all 5 kids named in his post (3 very young players) showed the ability and willingness to create their own shots. It was very impressive. Once Ryle settled down, Crittendon and Douthitt were both great, and their "youngsters" did not look or play like youngsters. The Post Maddie Scherr Raiders still look like 9th Region favorites to me. Hopefully Maddie can get back this week for another run at a title.

Bias is part of being a fan, but I saw CCH play straight man to man defense. Disken locked on to Vinson from the tip and made it a personal matchup, like he has several other times this season with other legit D1 kids. He set both the defensive and offensive tone of the game from tip. I say that as a fact of what I saw happen, no offense to any Highlands player. They look legit. Along with Vinson, Id take 11 and 2 on my team any day of the week. CCH is a different team when Disken is not on the floor, period. Vinson’s best moments came after Disken got his 2nd foul and they changed defense or he went to the bench. Bias or not, its what happened in the game. That said, I'd say Highlands has the best shot at upsetting CCH in the region, and will be tough next year as well.

It was a very fun game to watch. Highlands did not back down, and is a very good team. CCH just had too much. I dont know how you watch this game, and dont see that Disken was the clearly the best player on the court . He locked up Vinson from start to finish, from baseline to baseline, and dominated the first half.

I continue to be amazed at how little love Grant Disken gets. He's the best player on the best team, and no one on this list has played bigger and better versus near the competition he has face this year. Even though he is surrounded by more talent, he is still the focus of the oppositions defense. He also guarded and shutdown one of Florida's top D1 prospects (avg 30+pts/game) in the final game in Florida tournament, and Disken was the best player on the floor.

That is incredibly frustrating for NCC, and their fans. Hopefully they get healthy soon. From what I have seen recently, Huptman for Cov Cath, continues to gain confidence and is making more of an impact for them. Murphy is also giving them consistent time, and I'm hearing Mayer might be rejoining the team soon. 2-5 may change week to week from here on out. At this point, I would put Conner and Highlands ahead of Beechwood. I still think they graduated too much defense, size, and grit to compliment Draud and Downton.

With a healthy Scherr (and Crittendon), the girls 9th region is like the boys 9th region. You have a clear #1, and a distant but still very good and competitive 2-5.

Collingsworth belongs, either as DB or ATH. The challenge of picking kids from those teams other than Towles and Collingsworth is that their defense was so good, it is difficult to name other kids.

How is NDA considered a small team? My judgement might be off, or Ryle girls may have raised the bar on size classification for girls hoops. Is 5'8-5'9 considered small? I thought every girl in their rotation is about that size.

To pick an all decade QB for this era is tough: Towles, Zeke Pike, Elijah Sindelar, Tanner Morgan (underrated), AJ Mayer, Nick Bohn, Beau Allen. This is a fun debate! In looking through the Mr Kentucky list over the last 10 years, you don't see many lineman, but the list does set up other positions. RB - Damien Harris, Casey McGinnis, Jake Chisolm, J Carothers TE - Michael Mayer (if he is eligible, he has to be on as an LB as well) WR - Impressive two at the top with Devante Parker and Rondale Moore. I'm sure a long list of potential for a 3rd spot. I like the suggestion of Dev Hendrix. DB - Vito Tisdale, Van Cleave

Cov Cath did win the Florida tournament. They beat the host team (Villages) in the finals that had a 10-1 record coming in. Beat a talented team coached by Charlie Ward in the semi final game, and beat a 2 or 3 time defending state champ in their first game. Their early season schedule is impressive to say the least, and great experience for their younger players.

The young Pandas are big, long, athletic, deep, and will compete their tails off. They are not going to be any fun to play against this year and next two. They do have to figure out how to handle a good press. They lost their starting center and backup PG to knee injuries, and are still very deep. Get used to them being a top team in the state for a few years.

While we are at it #11, Thelen, stepped up field took on two blocks and contained perfectly on the play as well. The outside lbs and dline were discipline and did this all year long to allow Mayer and Felix to make plays. FD and LaSalle ran all over every team they played, but not this group.