The Double Deuce

BG with a huge home win!

Purples came in having lost 4 of 5, and McCracken County having won 9 of 10, but the Purples break their trend and defend their home court.  

McCracken County's Claire Johnson, my pick for Miss Basketball, leads all scorers with 26.  Way to go, CJ!

Sounds about right.  While obviously a great test for Coach Orem and her team, that is a LONG way to go for one game (that you were very likely not going to win).  

32 minutes ago, JBake said:

Quinn did not guard her at all I don’t think. 
Ryle ran a lot of Zone from what I can remember. 

Interesting.  While the Lady Flyers are very well coached by one of my favorite characters in KY HS Sports, you take her away and they can struggle to score for periods.  Surprised they didn't give Quinn (equally long and athletic) that assignment.  

I would have loved to have seen Boyd at this point at full strength.  In their current state, as much as I LOVE Pete and how he runs his program, I don't think they are a factor.  Hope I'm wrong.

Russell has the best player, in my opinion, but Ashland has some real toughness (and a lot of emotion coming from that bench), and I think the Kittens will be a tough out in the 16th if everyone is playing.  

9 hours ago, JBake said:

I agree 100%. That is not the same team that beat down ND two nights ago. 
They need to figure it out in a hurry though. 🤞

Did Shropshire do most of the damage?  She is nice, but I'd have thought Quinn would have been a great Match-up for her.

Just when Ryle starts to suck me back in they get beat by Joey Thacker's team by 20?!?!   Lady Flyers are very good, for sure, but wow.  This one is a bit of a surprise, margin, not result necessarily.  

1 hour ago, REALSPORT said:

In the latest CJ poll, Cooper is 2; Holy Cross is 4; Notre Dame is 13 and Ryle is 14.  

There is a "Statewide Poll" thread as well, just as an FYI, we put it out every Wednesday.

Thanks Real!

Who is making the hire, ultimately, the Principal (Mike Holtz) or the AD (Anne Julian).  Or Koz?  Or Mr. Alinghaus?  Or someone else?  Who should be making it, I'm honestly asking.  Hiring a coach, to me, is ultimately part of the AD's job, so I'm assuming this falls to Anne...correct?  Although I have to believe Mike Holtz (and some / all of the others) will have a loud voice in the room.

High School AD's are often under-appreciated, but the good ones really make a big impact.  I'll leave it at that.

On 2/13/2024 at 1:09 PM, The Double Deuce said:

I absolutely expect Holy Cross and Ryle to meet in one of the first two rounds of the 9th Region, seems destined to be so.

Doubling down on the above, because I will be shocked if Holy Cross and Ryle don't cross paths in the first or second round of the 9th Region (HC winning the 35th, Ryle runner up in the 33rd), even though I know Cooper and Holy Cross could be on the same side (hope not), but worth noting when looking at the Holy Cross vs Ryle series:  Ryle has won 9 straight games vs the Indians and HC's last win over the Lady Raiders will be more than 10 years from the 2024 9th Region Tournament.  

So it has been a LONG time.  We'll just say that.

I still think HC is playing better today, but Ryle has a GREAT chance to make the 9th Region Tourney Championship a 33rd District match-up....again.

I don't know enough about the Boys' teams around the state to make an educated guess, but I do think GRC wins the 10th and Newport wins the 9th.

I'm likely a lone ranger on this, but my attendance at both the Boys and Girls' Sweet 16 tournament is completely dependent on who wins regions I follow and / or care about.  I need to care about the teams involved, or certain players involved (and / or their families that I know and care about), to consider attending.

I can get great soft-serve closer to home and a lot cheaper!  😎

Appreciate you brother, you always have my back and I'm so thankful for your partnership.  

Ryle, my apologies, I was wrong.  Mea Culpa.  

Notre Dame's inability to score consistently (10 at half!?!?) Overcomes how hard and well they can defend.  

Katie and Lady Raiders, my sincere apologies.  It shall be rectified on Monday.  Forgive me for doubting you.  

Huge credit to Sully and his Jags hanging in and taking the Wildcats' to the wire.  So impressive this short handed. 

Mil and Andy are still out, correct?  If so, not really a fair fight.  

7 minutes ago, gchs_uk9 said:

Is the old Grant High building still in Covington? I seem to remembering driving past a school in town once and wondered if it with the old Grant school.

It is now the Lincoln Grant Scholar House, I believe it is apartments for single parents taking college classes.  @Colonels_Wear_Blue probably knows more because he knows everything there is to know about Covington and NKY.  He will correct me if I have it wrong.

That is an OUTSTANDING share, 'Ru, thanks for posting that.

54 minutes ago, feelingit said:

Ryle has the best 1-2 punch in the ninth.

If there was a "Gus Macker" 2 on 2 tournament in the 9th Region I would take Ryle 100% of the time. 

21 minutes ago, JBake said:

Head and shoulders…

Not sure I would agree with that take. 
We will find out soon enough I guess. 

Ryle has an argument, to be sure, including head-to-head early in the season, but there are enough results since (losing to Campbell County, first among them), contrasted with how Holy Cross has played NDA, those same Camels, Pikeville, etc., to make me confident that HC is playing better now.

I absolutely expect Holy Cross and Ryle to meet in one of the first two rounds of the 9th Region, seems destined to be so.

Maggie is terrific, and she played AAU with a lot of those talented freshmen in the 9th (and SK) growing up, so everyone in NKY is well aware of what an outstanding player she is!  So happy for her success.

The Indians are just mauling people right now, and have won 10 straight by an average margin of victory of 31 points.  Wow!

That run includes wins over Notre Dame, Campbell County, Pikeville, NewCath, and Brossart.  What an amazing run by Holy Cross since dropping the heart-breaker to GRC, on the road, by 2 points.

Here is how it would look if every favorite (my opinion, to be clear) comes out of their region:

*  Owsley County vs Franklin-Simpson

*  Ashland Blazer (Russell great shot as well) vs McCracken County (they are VERY capable)

*  Simon Kenton vs Butler (not nearly as bullish on them as some others)

*  Franklin County vs Corbin (a great first round game)

=================================

*  Sacred Heart vs GRC (not too shabby, huh?)

*  Pikeville vs Bethlehem

*  Danville Christian vs Cooper

*  Henderson County vs Owensboro Catholic

I disagree with @LCDAWGS19, I'm not even sure I like Butler to beat Simon Kenton (or Anderson County), but I think the winner of Ashland / Russell vs McCracken County is the clear favorite to come out of the top.  Franklin County vs Corbin is a great game, and the winner of that vs SK / Anderson County vs Butler will provide a nice test to the FS vs 16th / McCracken County winner.

The bottom is loaded, for sure, but hard to not to see a Sacred Heart vs Cooper state Final 4 game coming to fruition.  

A McCracken County vs Corbin and Sacred Heart vs Cooper final four would be a great representation of the state's depth.  

Side-note:  McCracken County's Claire Johnson should be Miss Basketball, so her in the finals vs Sacred Heart would be a great story.

What an interesting year in terms of the unpredictability of most of our teams, and the outcomes that are so difficult to understand from one week to the next -- really speaks to the depth in NKY of "good/solid" teams", and frankly, the quality of coaching up and down the area.  Campbell County had ANOTHER outstanding win this week vs Ryle, after also beating Notre Dame, but they also have a 32 point home loss to Holy Cross and a 22 point home loss to Conner on their resume.  Speaking of Conner, this week alone they beat Dixie by 32 points, but then lose to a Whitefield Academy team that Holy Cross put a running clock on.  So hard to figure.  I will say, I think Coach Gambrel and Anna Hamilton deserve a TON of credit for leading that young team through a difficult schedule, and they have more challenges to come, but overall they have battled night-in, and night-out.

Simon Kenton has quite a week upcoming, they play two of the Top 5 teams in Kentucky, both on the road, when they visit Holy Cross on Wednesday and Sacred Heart on Friday.  Coach Stowers and his very young team will be battle-tested for the post-season, and will be a huge favorite to do a lot of damage next year after all of the seasoning and learning they've been able to do this year.

Lastly, we see more movement in the Top 4 this week, with Ryle dropping one to Campbell County....in spite of a low-key GREAT win vs North Laurel that followed it.  Luckily we get the Notre Dame vs Ryle game this week (battle for 3rd in NKY) in Park Hills, so let's call my ranking this week my early prediction for that game (certain to be wrong).  For the bottom-half of the Top 10, it remains a real challenge, but I feel pretty good about where it is settling this week.  We have some great games this week, noted in the Top 10, which should clarify (or muck up) where we finish over the next week and a half before districts.  

Some huge games this week around the area, get out and see them!!!

1.  Cooper 21-4 (2-0 last week):  at NewCath

2.  Holy Cross 21-5 (1-0):  at Bishop Brossart (sneaky good game) and vs Simon Kenton (nothing sneaky about it)

3.  Notre Dame 19-5 (3-0):  vs Ryle (outstanding game!!) and vs GRC (another outstanding game!!)

4.  Ryle 17-8 (3-1):  at Notre Dame (huge game) and at Franklin County (another KY Top 20 team on the road)

5.  Simon Kenton 16-7 (1-0):  at Holy Cross (terrific game) and at Sacred Heart (no big deal, at KY's #1 team on the road)

6.  Highlands 17-7 (2-0):  at St. Henry and vs Owen County

7.  Campbell County 16-8 (2-0):  vs Dixie (low-key good game), at St. Henry, and at Conner (again, should be fun)

8.  Grant County 17-6 (1-1):  at Owen County and at Anderson County (huge challenge on the road vs KY #10 team)

9.  Bishop Brossart 16-7 (2-0):  vs Holy Cross (big chance on their home floor) and vs Bracken County

10. NewCath 17-8 (1-1):  vs Cooper (KY #2), vs Ludlow and at Great Crossing

======================================================

8th:  Walton Verona 15-9

9th:  Conner 11-14, Dixie 13-11, St. Henry 13-11, Bellevue 18-7, Ludlow 16-11

10th:  Scott 16-9

Very impressive result / margin for Coach Gambrel's student athletes.  

Whew, Monday morning is not going to be easy!  😁

Campbell County is the Dow Joneser of the year, but a couple of GREAT wins vs NDA and Ryle.