The Double Deuce

Boone has won 3 of the last 4. Good for them.

10th Region All A semis. Brossart will play Nicholas County for championship.

Final from Erlanger last night.

Final from Anderson County last night.

Final from Maysville!

Final in 10th Region All A semis. Nicholas County will play winner of Brossart and Bracken County for the championship.

This conversation came up with a 9th Region head coach and I in the stands the other day, but there are a number of girls in the area that aren't necessarily their team's best player, nor the one that everyone talks about, but they are having a very solid start to the season. I thought I would take a moment and highlight some of those "unsung heroes" here in this thread. Feel free to add some, I only picked one per team on our Top 10 to give some well-deserved attention to. From Simon Kenton, and while she isn't "unsung" like some others, Haylie Webb is having a great start to the season. Brynli and Anna get a lot of attention and love, and deservedly so, but Haylie is averaging 14.5 and 9.8 this year and is a big reason SKLP are where they are. Sarah Young at Notre Dame is averaging 10.8 and 9.1 and has been a real bright spot for Notre Dame this year. Alivia Scott has been a fixture in NKY for several years on the varsity level, and she is having a great start to the season to help the Lady Jags navigate a coaching change and a very tough schedule. Noel is unquestionably the best player in the area, but kudos to Alivia who is averaging 10.2 and 4.2 boards, while also shooting 38% from the arc! Campbell County is Izzy's team, everyone knows that and gets that, but shoutout to Kendall Augsback, one of my favorite players in the area, who is averaging 11.1 points on the season. When Izzy was out for a period, Kendall was terrific in their road win at Ryle. D'Myah being out for Holy Cross is a huge blow to them, but the Youngstown State commit will continue to be around the team and leading from the sideline. In her absence, Jai Johnson will likely ascend to the role of the Indians' best player, so I want to shoutout Alyssa Arlinghaus, who is averaging 12.5 points, but also leading the Indians in rebounds from the wing at 5.7 per game. Brossart is off to a great start this year under Aaron Stamm, and Smith gets most of the headlines, but how about the start to the year for Greylee Kramer. The junior is averaging 12.5 points while shooting 40% from three with 32 made triples on the year. There also aren't a lot of young ladies that have more fun playing, always smiling, propping up her teammates, and doing whatever needs to be done. Jones and McClain get a ton of love for Ryle, two D1 kids who deserve all of it, but how about Emerson Dowell, a freshman, averaging 8.6 points per game against a brutal schedule! Emerson is only going to get better, and she and McClain could be a deadly duo for the next 3.5 seasons! Highlands lost a ton to graduation, then lost Orme before the season, and Kaylee Mills gets most of the attention for the Birds now. They have several that I could have mentioned, but I want to give some recognition to Katie Bucher who is averaging 7.7 and 4.8 for the Birds. Avery Barber would have been another likely candidate here, both have been great, but I leaned towards Katie. Elin Logue gets most of the attention for Walton-Verona, and deservedly so, as she is fantastic player! I want to mention another Freshman, Ava Hargett, who is averaging 11.3 and 5.8 for the Bearcats! St. Henry doesn't have an easy choice, but I think most look at Joey Powers as their best player, so I wanted to call out Gia Jones, who is averaging 9.4 and 4.2 for the Cru. The Beechwood transfer a couple of years ago is known as a sharpshooter, and while her shot hasn't been as hot as normal, she has rounded out her game and developed a lot of other skills and ways to help the Cru keep getting wins. Again, feel free to add yours that you think I may have overlooked, love shouting out those players that don't get as much attention as the many D1 and high-level recruits around the area leading their teams.

A new week is upon us, Holy Cross has another 9th Region All A Championship, SK beat Notre Dame up on the Hill, and Campbell County is clearly looking like the Top 4 team in the area we thought they'd be before the season. The teams are really sorting themselves out, the "tiers" are clearly defining themselves, Coach Stamm's Lady 'Stangs continue their great start to the season (with a nice win over Highlands), and Ryle continues to play a terrific schedule to prepare them for the post-season. I was a little shocked to see Walton Verona lose to Owen County in the 8th Region All A, so disappointed that we won't have three girls' teams make it to the State Tournament this year. Brossart will face a solid Nicholas County team, assuming they beat Bracken County, so I like their chances at advancing out of the 10th. With many of the tournaments around the state, both for the Holidays and the All A Tourneys, wrapping up, we will see more of our teams from the area playing each other -- which is always a lot of fun! Notre Dame vs Frederick Douglass, Simon Kenton at Brossart, and Cooper at Ryle feel like the best games of the week, so get out and see some hoops! 1. Simon Kenton (17-1 / 3-0 last week): vs South Oldham, vs #9 Walton-Verona, and at #6 Bishop Brossart. 2. Notre Dame (10-3 / 1-1): at Seton (OH), and vs Frederick Douglass. 3. Cooper (11-3 / 1-0): at Scott and at #7 Ryle. 4. Campbell County (9-2 / 3-0): at Mason County and vs Scott. 5. Holy Cross (12-2 / 3-0): at Beechwood and at Conner (the Lady Cougars' gauntlet continues). 6. Bishop Brossart (15-1 / 2-0): at Bracken County and vs #1 Simon Kenton. 7. Ryle (9-6 / 2-1): vs #3 Cooper, and vs South Forsyth (GA) at Whitefield Academy. 8. Highlands (9-3 / 2-1): vs NewCath. 9. Walton-Verona (10-4 / 2-1): at Anderson County and at #1 Simon Kenton (tough week). 10. St. Henry (9-4 / 1-1): at Ludlow and vs Dixie (a good seeding game for the 34th). ======================================== * NewCath (8-5 / 2-1): vs Villa Madonna and at #8 Highlands. * Scott (6-9 / 1-1): vs #3 Cooper and at #4 Campbell County (also a very tough week). * Dixie (3-8 / 0-1): at East Central (IN) and at #10 St. Henry * Grant County (8-8 / 2-1): vs Conner and at Gallatin County * Conner (1-11 / 0-3): at Grant County, at Boone County, and vs #5 Holy Cross. * Lloyd (6-8 / 0-1): vs Holmes and at Ludlow

North, after a 9-1 start, has dropped 3 of 4.

Final from Claryville

Holy Cross wins their 5th Straight 9th Region All A championship. Ties NewCath with 15 since 1995. Bellevue hosted semis and finals. Good luck down state, Indians!

Conner loses 3 games in 4 days by a total of 86 points. Feel so badly for Coach Gambrel and these rebuilding young Cougars.

Final on Friday night.

Birds hold serve at home.

Final from Union. Raiders found the perfect aloe after the MND game.

Final from Erlanger.

Final from Park Hills.

Holy Cross can win 5th straight and tie NewCath tomorrow night.

Final from Bellevue in All A Semis. NewCath and Holy Cross, winners of 29 of the last 31 9th Region All A tournaments, meet tomorrow in the Finals.

Final from Bellevue, in the 9th Region All A semis. NewCath will play in the championship against either HC or SHDHS.

#1 and #2 play a classic game at Assumption!!! Seems little doubt, at least to me, that these are the best two teams in the Commonwealth.

The 12-0 Cougars prove to be way too much for the Raiders.

Ryle visits Mount Notre Dame in Cincinnati tonight, easily the game of the evening for NKY Girls' hoops. MND is 11-0 with some very impressive wins, if Ryle can keep it competitive it will be a very solid result for them.

I think there is a 7th grade Wimzie girl too, not yet with the Birds, that is also going to be very, very nice. Their pipeline, on both sides (boys and girls), is fairly deep!

I'm surprised HC / Newport wasn't listed on the scoreboard as a 1-0 forfeit victory for the Indians. That is usually the way those are handled.