The LINK nky Top 10 will roll out soon, but something new this year here at LINK will be the weekly basketball bites.
It will highlight personal accomplishments, milestones, marquee matchups and more.
We’ll recap the last week of the action on the hardwood and look for matchups to look out for the rest of the week.
Ludlow pair hits 1,000 career points
Ludlow’s Spencer Brandenburg and Addy Garrett both hit the mark recently. Brandenburg surpassed 1,000 career points in the Panthers win over Eminence on Dec. 7, where he poured in 29 points and drained five 3-pointers. Garrett did it against Dayton on Dec. 6, scoring 14 points.
Dowell’s hit 1,000-point milestone
Bellevue seniors Jayda and Jaylah Dowell recently reached the career milestone. Jayda did it against Villa Madonna on Dec. 6, finishing with 10 points in the contest. Jaylah hit the mark in Bellevue’s win over Dayton on Monday.
Kiefer sets blocks record at Ball State
Bishop Brossart alum Marie Kiefer is now the all-time blocks leader at Ball State University. The senior recently recorded her 153th career block in her Cardinals career, passing former Carinal Tamara Bowie who owned the record of 152 since 2003. Kiefer has started all nine games for Ball State this season, averaging 9.3 points and 6.6 rebounds a game. She’s shooting 59% from the field and 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocks per game.
Kiefer and Ball State come to Highland Heights on Sunday to face NKU at 3:30 p.m. Expect a big contingent of Brossart fans there to root Kiefer on, who led the Lady ‘Stangs to a 10th Region title in 2021.
Baker earns another HL Freshman of the Week Honor
How about Ryle grad Sarah Baker and the start to her college career at Youngstown State? Baker was named the Horizon League’s Freshman of the Week for the third time this season this week.
In nine games this season for the Penguins, Baker is averaging 7.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. In her first career start against Milwaukee on Dec. 4, Baker put up career-highs of 16 points and six assists, adding seven rebounds, a block and a steal.
Baker has took home the honors three times in five weeks to start the season, NKU’s Kamora Morgan with the other two honors.
Freihofer earns honors, too
Cooper grad and Eastern Kentucky University freshman Liz Freihofer was named Atlantic Sun Conference Freshman of the week on Dec. 2. Freihofer scored 39 points in three games to earn the honors.
In Freihofer’s first nine collegiate games, she’s averaging 9.4 points per game and hitting 38% of her 3-point attempts.
McNeil headed to the G-League
Cooper grad Sean McNeil was recently named an assistant on Cooper’s boys basketball coaching staff, but his coaching days will have to wait as he’s still wanted as a player.
He was recently signed by the Cleveland Charge, the Cleveland Cavaliers G-League affiliate. McNeil most recently played for Nevezis in Lithuania. His college career saw him play at West Virginia and Ohio State for his senior season. With the Buckeyes, he played in 35 games and averaged 9.7 points per game.
McNeil helped lead the Jaguars to the 2017 state championship game as a senior, where they finished runner-up. McNeil and Adam Kunkel were the driving forces in their run, Kunkel currently playing overseas in Spain for Zunder Palecia.
Thelen’s first win impressive with Colonels
Jake Thelen’s coaching debut with Covington Catholic passed with flying colors. The Colonels took down Lexington Catholic, 89-52.
Thelen said the Colonels were going to play fast and they showed it on Dec. 7, putting up 57 shots in 32 minutes. CovCath was paced by the trio of Athens McGillis, Cash Harney and Donovan Bradshaw, finishing with 27, 21 and 20 points, respectively. McGillis knocked down seven 3-pointers, Harney hit 9-of-10 shots from the field and Bradshaw pulled down eight rebounds.
The Colonels return to action on Wednesday to start the Billy Hicks Classic at Scott County at 7:30 p.m.
John Turner Classic
Newport’s gym will be the place to be on Saturday for the John Turner Classic with five boys games running from noon through 7 p.m. Local teams Conner, Newport Central Catholic, Holy Cross, Newport and Campbell County will all be in action throughout the day.
Conner plays Harvest Prep (OH) at 12 p.m., Newport Central Catholic faces Taft (OH) at 1:45 p.m., Holy Cross takes on Winton Woods (OH) at 3:30 p.m., Trinity and Princeton (OH) square off at 5:15 p.m. and a Sweet 16 state tournament rematch from last season is the nightcap at 7 p.m. with host Newport taking on Campbell County.
Newport fares well at Marshall County Hoopfest
Speaking of the Wildcats, they went 2-0 at Marshall County’s Hoopfest on Dec. 6-7 with wins over McCallie School (TN) and Daviess County.
Amontae Lowe led four Wildcats in the win over McCallie, finishing with 17 points. DaShawn Anderson added 16 and was named the game’s MVP, James Turner with 12 and Griffin Starks posting 10.
Turner was named the game’s MVP in the victory over Daviess County with 17 points. Starks also poured in 17 points with nine rebounds, Adonaje Lowe with 15 points and eight rebounds and Amontae Lowe with 12 points.
Hoops 4 Harvest Breakdown
The annual Hoops 4 Harvest took place on Dec. 7 at Dixie Heights with six games played on the day.
Local teams Ryle, Simon Kenton, Dixie Heights and Campbell County played in the event.
Example Academy (IL) 46, Ryle 34
Ryle was without leading scorer Jaelyn Jones in this one.
Jayden McClain led the Raiders with nine points, 16 rebounds and eight blocked shots. Emerson Dowell’s 11 points paced Ryle in scoring. Ryle finished 12-of-42 shooting for the game.
George Rogers Clark 69, Simon Kenton 34
Simon Kenton trailed 28-24 at halftime before the Lady Cardinals depth was too much, outscoring the Pioneers 41-10 in the second half.
Brynli Pernell led SK with 14 points as the team struggled to shoot it, going 12-of-36 from the field.
Campbell County 78, Dixie Heights 63
This one was a rollercoaster. Dixie led by double-digits in the first half before Campbell County pulled away in the fourth quarter in outscoring the Colonels 27-11.
Kendall Augsback had 20 points and eight rebounds to lead the Camels, Isabella Jayasuriya adding 15 points with nine rebounds.
Asia Carner paced Dixie with 26 points, Catherine Buddenberg tossing in 18 points.
Walker’s triple-double
Lloyd Memorial’s EJ Walker went for a triple-double in the Juggernauts 65-57 victory over Ryle on Dec. 6.
Walker had 14 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. The South Carolina signee is putting up 18.5 points and 14 rebounds per game in Lloyd’s first two games.
Holy Cross Radio hits 400th broadcast
Congrats to Terry Niehaus and the radio team at Holy Cross for hitting their 400th broadcast on Dec. 3 when the Holy Cross girls took on Ryle.
What other games to look for the rest of the week
Tuesday: Ryle at Newport boys, Simon Kenton at Cooper boys, Holy Cross at Highlands girls
Wednesday: Newport Central Catholic at Campbell County girls
Thursday: Dixie Heights at Bishop Brossart girls, Cooper at Holy Cross girls
Friday: Campbell County at Holy Cross boys, Notre Dame vs Dixie Heights girls at Bellevue, Highlands vs Scott girls at Bellevue