They’re a perfect pair so far.
Bishop Brossart and Notre Dame are the only Northern Kentucky girls basketball teams who haven’t lost a game this season. Both are 6-0 heading into this weekend.
Brossart’s unblemished record going into Friday’s game against Campbell County (tip time 7:30 p.m. at Campbell County Middle School in Alexandria) may be the more surprising but no less satisfying – six of the top seven scorers from last year’s 22-12 team that won the 10th Region All “A” and 37th District tournaments graduated.
The Lady ‘Stangs sextet of wins is the best start since 2021.
Brossart and Notre Dame share a reason for their combined 12-0: stingy defense. The Mustangs have allowed just 34.7 per game, while the Pandas have surrendered 37.5.
“The strength of this program has always been defense out here,” Brossart coach Steve Brown said. “The kids do a great job; they don’t mind doing it.”
Sixth-year Notre Dame coach Kes Murphy points to his blueprint – proper eye, hand and body position designed to take advantage of his team’s size. The Pandas play man-to-man and a match-up zone, which combines man defense on the ball and a zone away from it.
“There’s a lot of details, a lot of little-bitty things that might be unnoticeable to a lot of people in the stands,” Murphy said. “One thing you will notice is our hands. We use our length, and that’s one of the things that gives us an advantage, in my opinion.”
Brossart uses a 2-2-1 zone press much of the time. The idea: Don’t deny an inbounds pass and force an opponent to one side.
“That seems to suit our kids,” Brown said. “We’ve got a lot of kids that are around 5-10, 5-11, and they have a long wingspan … We’ve got a quick bunch of kids; we can play 10 kids.”
Murphy, a Boone County and Berea College alumnus, knows state championships. He guided Holy Cross to the 2015 KHSAA title over Allen County-Scottsville, 35-32, on Abby Hassert’s last-second shot – a play those not at Western Kentucky University’s E.A. Diddle Arena saw because the live stream feed cut out.
“I did hear about it,” Murphy said. “That’s crazy. Thankfully, it didn’t affect the game.”
The Indians also won the All “A” state title that season.
Notre Dame last won the Ninth Region title in 2013. Still, you could’ve predicted the Pandas would be undefeated going into Saturday’s game against Assumption in the Louisville vs. Kentucky Shootout on the Rockets’ court – the Pandas’ record matches last year’s 8-0 start, the 8-0 in 2021-22 and the 4-0 in the COVID-19-shortened 2021 campaign.
“Last year was essentially a JV team,” Murphy said. “Getting off to a good start’s always a big deal; you never want to dig out of a hole. At the end of the day, we need to do a better job of finishing.”
Indeed, there have been three seasons of heartache. Notre Dame lost to Dixie Heights in the 2021 final, Ryle in the 2022 first round and Cooper in last year’s semifinals.
Murphy’s summer solution: attend fewer June team camps. Many of the Pandas play AAU basketball, and he thought they were mentally and physically worn out by February and March.
“We played games; we didn’t play a ton, we played a decent amount, but we weren’t in the gym practicing as much as we normally are,” Murphy said. “That was a major change.”
Junior center Sophia Gibson leads the Pandas with 12.8 points and 8.2 rebounds a game. Sophomore guard Emma Holtzapfel is next at 9.8 points.
Brossart’s streak almost ended Monday – the Mustangs hung on for a 56-55 win at Augusta behind sophomore Rachel Shewmaker’s 22 points.
“Augusta’s got a nice team,” Brown said. “It’s a difficult place to play. We had a 10-point lead at halftime.”
Brossart averages a shade over 62 points a game. Shewmaker averages 13.2 points and hits 67.2% of her shots, freshman Graylee Kramer is next with 12.8 points, and junior Zoee Meyers is third with 12.4.
“The coaches have helped me a lot,” Shewmaker said. “ … Hard work has helped me a lot.”
That Meyers is even playing is a holiday blessing. She injured her hip during AAU ball this summer and required surgery, and Brown didn’t think she’d be available until Christmas.
Meyers and Kramer average a team-high 4.2 rebounds, and Shewmaker grabs 3.8.
Holtzapfel wouldn’t mind Notre Dame being mentioned in a list of elite Ninth Region teams with two-time defending Ninth Region champion Cooper and Ryle.
“Yes, we definitely should because we’re definitely a top team,” Holtzapfel said. “We’re good offensively and good defensively.”