The latest basketball bites breaks down the latest happenings in local hoops.
From milestones to stats leaders, to in-season tournaments and classics, we’ve got you covered.
Griffin Elite Basketball Classic
The second annual Griffin Elite Basketball Classic will be played at the Connor Convocation Center at Thomas More Jan. 10-12.
Local teams Simon Kenton, Lloyd Memorial, Newport and Walton-Verona will be playing in the three-day showcase that will feature some of the top players from prep schools in the country.
Simon Kenton will be playing Huntington Prep on Jan. 10 at 9 p.m. Huntington Prep features Kameron Mercer, one of the top players in the 2028 class. Lloyd will face Summit Country Day out of Cincinnati on Sunday at 1 p.m. while Walton-Verona and Newport will square off on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Other teams playing in the event are Spire Academy and Wesley Christian facing off on Friday at 7:30 p.m., Great Crossing, the No. 2 team in the state currently will take on Cathedral out of Indiana on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., St. Xavier (Ohio) will face Spire on Saturday at 9 p.m. while Huntington Prep and Moravian Prep will square off on Sunday at 4 p.m.
Other high-profile players in the showcase include Great Crossing’s Malachi Moreno, a Kentucky commit and Moravain Prep’s Eli Ellis.
Statewide polls
The first statewide media polls came out on Tuesday. Covington Catholic was the lone boys team ranked in the top 15, Lloyd Memorial just missing out and ranked 17th while Campbell County and Holy Cross also showed up in the others receiving votes category at 29th and 31st, respectively.
Plenty of girls teams were in the top 15. Cooper is ranked No. 2, Holy Cross No. 8, Notre Dame No. 12, Simon Kenton No. 13 and Highlands No. 15.
Votes are pulled from 16 media members representing each region of the state. In a bit of a change from prior years, the 16-member panel submits their top 15 in boys and girls basketball and presents a top five for the region they cover. The prior two seasons it was a top 10.
The poll will run weekly up to when district tournaments start in late February.
All “A” gets going
The All “A” Classic regional tournaments begin this week locally as each region winner tries to punch their ticket to Owensboro for the All “A” Classic state tournament later this month that runs Jan. 22-26.
The 8th Region tournament is at Owen County Jan. 6-11, the 9th Region girls tournament is at St. Henry Jan. 7-11, the boys is at Dayton Jan. 13-18 and the 10th Region tournament is at Robertson County Jan. 11-16.
The reigning All “A” state champions come from the 9th Region with the Newport boys and Holy Cross girls looking to defend their titles. Walton-Verona is the reigning 8th Region champ in boys and girls while Bishop Brossart’s girls are the reigning 10th Region champs.
Weather has caused some changes to these schedules, so make sure to check with the host school on when games will be played.
Green hits 1,500
Highlands senior Marissa Green hit 1,500 career points in the Bluebirds 58-32 victory over Conner on Jan. 4. Green scored 18 points as they won their fourth straight game.
She now sits with 1,501 career points as she’s led the team in scoring every season since her freshman year. Green has played in 11 games this year for the 12-2 Bluebirds, averaging 14.0 points and 5.9 rebounds a game.
Dyne’ing in
Youngstown State sophomore and Simon Kenton grad Gabe Dynes continues to be solid for the Penguins. He currently leads Division I in blocked shots per game at 3.19 a contest.
The blocked shots goes with 7.1 points and 5.2 rebounds a game, helping Youngstown State to a 10-6 record and 5-1 in Horizon League play. In his freshman year, Dynes played in 27 games, averaging 3.9 points and 4.0 rebounds per game to go with 2.2 blocks per game.
Youngstown State hosts Northern Kentucky on Wednesday in a pivotal Horizon League Conference matchup. The Penguins lead the conference with a 5-1 record, NKU tied for second with three other teams at 4-1.
Freihofer continues solid start
Eastern Kentucky University freshman and Cooper grad Liz Freihofer continues to rack up Atlantic Sun Conference Freshman of the Week honors, earning the distinction last week.
Freihofer’s last honor came after a comeback win over Samford. She scored seven points and brought down five rebounds in the Colonels’ 81-66 victory. Her performance earned her the conference’s weekly honor for the third time in the last four weeks and marks her sixth weekly accolade this season.
On the year, Freihofer is averaging 10.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.2 made threes per game primarily as EKU’s fist player off the bench. She made her first college start against Samford.
As of Monday, Freihofer is second in the ASUN Conference and top 100 nationally in made threes (29), made threes per game (2.23), and three-point percentage (38.7). She is top three among freshmen in the conference in scoring.
21 rebounds for Huff
Ludlow’s Kiley Huff pulled down 21 rebounds in a game against Beechwood on Jan. 3. It was a career-high for her. Huff is averaging 10.9 rebounds a game for the Panthers this season. That puts her in a tie for 27th in the state and leads the 9th Region.
Cooper takes on the best
Cooper’s girls basketball team continues to take on the best teams in the state, even out of state opponents. Over the holiday break, not only did they head to Louisville and win the Queen of the Commonwealth, but they also faced Purcell-Marian (Ohio) and Sacred Heart. Purcell-Marian has won the last three state titles in Ohio in their respective division, Sacred Heart has won the last four state titles in Kentucky.
Based off the initial statewide poll, Cooper’s schedule consists of No. 1 Sacred Heart, No. 3 Franklin-Simpson, No. 6 Assumption, No. 7 Franklin County, No. 8 Holy Cross, No. 12 Notre Dame, No. 13 Simon Kenton, No. 14 Frederick Douglass, No. 15 Highlands, No. 18 Anderson County, No. 25 Danville Christian and No. 29 DuPont Manual (twice).
That’s 14 of their 27 games against state-ranked opponents.
Statewide stat leaders (through Monday)
The first KHSAA statewide stats report has been released for the 2024-25 season. Here’s who is showing up in the top 50 on it:
Boys
— Cooper’s Andy Johnson 14th with 25.1 points per game
— Walton-Verona’s Aaron Gutman 15th with 24.2 points per game
— Covington Catholic’s Athens McGillis 29th with 22.2 points per game, McGillis is also 30th in 3-pointers made per game with 3.1
— Cooper’s Roman Combs 8th in field goal percentage at 70.2%
— Highlands’ Nathan Rickard 11th in field goal percentage at 68.4%
— Campbell County’s Garyn Jackson 15th in field goal percentage at 67.2%
— Simon Kenton’s Brayden Polly 24th in field goal percentage at 65.9%
— Covington Catholic’s Donovan Bradshaw 29th in field goal percentage at 65.5%
— Bishop Brossart’s Domyniq Hadden 10th in free throw percentage at 86.8%
— Conner’s Chase Huff 29th in free throw percentage at 84.4%
— Newport Central Catholic’s Ian Mann 31st in free throw percentage at 83.8%
— Ludlow’s Spencer Brandenburg 25th in 3-pointers made per game with 3.2
— Dixie Heights’ Griffen Derry 28th in 3-pointers made per game with 3.1
— Lloyd Memorial’s EJ Walker 16th in rebounding with 10.8 per game
— Bellevue’s Arion Stuckey 24th in rebounding with 10.4 per game
— Calvary Christian’s Luke Getsy 26th in rebounding with 10.4 per game
— Holy Cross’ Nate Rominger 47th in rebounding with 9.6 per game
— Highlands third in scoring at 78.2 points per game, the Bluebirds also rank in the top 50 in scoring margin at 26th at 14.9, their 70.5% free throw percentage is 48th
— Conner 13th in scoring at 74.2 points per game, the Cougars 51.9% field goal percentage is 14th, their 41.7% 3-point percentage is 8th
— Covington Catholic 26th in scoring at 71.2 points per game, the Colonels are also 29th in scoring margin at 13.8, their 49.3% field goal percentage is 42nd
— Heritage Academy 29th in scoring at 70.9 points per game, the Eagles also rank in the top 50 in 47th with 53.6 points per game allowed, and 15th in scoring margin at 17.3, their 50.9% field goal percentage is 23rd
— Campbell County 38th in scoring at 69.6 points per game, the Camels 49.4% field goal percentage is 40th, their 39.4% 3-point percentage is 21st
— Ludlow 47th in scoring at 68.8 points per game, the Panthers 34.8 rebounds per game is 15th
— Beechwood 14th with 48.7 points per game allowed, the Tigers are also 37th in scoring margin at 12.1, their 51.3% field goal percentage is 19th, they also rank 12th in 3-point percentage at 39.9%
— Simon Kenton 27th with 50.2 points per game allowed
— Dixie Heights 31st with 50.8 points per game allowed, the Colonels are also 42nd in scoring margin at 11.6, their 52.8% field goal percentage is 7th, they are 36th in free throw percentage at 71.6%, they also rank in 3-point percentage at 15th at 39.7%
— Newport 43rd with 53.2 points per game allowed
— Cooper 45th with 53.4 points per game allowed, the Jaguars 49.3% field goal percentage is 41st, their 70.9% free throw percentage is 44th
— Lloyd Memorial is 49th in scoring margin at 10.6, the Juggernauts 71.8% free throw percentage is 33rd
— Boone County is 27th in field goal percentage at 50.5%, the Rebels 42.7% from the 3-point line is 5th
— Newport Central Catholic’s 78.3% free throw percentage is 6th
— Bishop Brossart’s 71.3% free throw percentage is 39th
— Holy Cross’ 70.9% free throw percentage is 43rd, the Indians 36.7% 3-point percentage is 49th, their 32.8 rebounds per game is 37th
— St. Henry’s 38.6% 3-point percentage is 26th
— Walton-Verona’s 36.5% 3-point percentage is 50th
Girls
— Ludlow’s Addy Garrett is 11th in scoring with 22.4 points per game
— Newport Central Catholic’s Caroline Eaglin is 12th in scoring with 22.3 points per game, Eaglin is also 5th in free throw percentage at 89.2%
— Ryle’s Jaelyn Jones is 14th in scoring with 21.9 points per game, Jones is also second in free throw percentage at 91.0%
— Highlands Marissa Green is second in field goal percentage at 66.3%
— Dixie Heights’ Catherine Buddenberg is 15th in field goal percentage at 59.8%
— Notre Dame’s Maya Lawrie is 30th in field goal percentage at 57.7%
— Bishop Brossart’s Kylie Smith is 47th in field goal percentage at 54.6%
— Cooper’s Haylee Noel is 31st in free throw percentage at 81.1%
— Holy Cross’ Aumani Nelson is 37th in free throw percentage at 79.0%, Nelson is also 28th with 2.6 three-pointers made per game
— Walton-Verona’s Braylin Terrell is 40th in free throw percentage at 78.6%, Terrell is also 38th in rebounding with 10.2 per game
— St. Henry’s Josephine Powers is 41st in free throw percentage at 78.6%
— Notre Dame’s Emma Holtzapfel is 5th in 3-pointers made per game at 3.3
— Walton-Verona’s Elin Logue is 17th in 3-pointers made per game at 2.8
— Dixie Heights’ Coralee Pelfrey is 35th in 3-pointers made per game at 2.6
— Simon Kenton’s Brynli Pernell is 37th in 3-pointers made per game at 2.5
— Ludlow’s Kylie Huff is 27th in rebounding with 10.9 per game
— St. Henry’s Corinne Blackburn is 29th in rebounding with 10.9 per game
— Dixie Heights is 11th in scoring with 64.7 points per game, their 44.4% field goal percentage is 14th, they also rank in free throw percentage at 17th at 71.3%, the Colonels also rank 8th in 3-point percentage at 37.3%
— Campbell County is 16th in scoring with 62.9 points per game, their 41.2% field goal percentage is 42nd, the Camels 37.9% 3-point percentage is 6th
— Walton-Verona is 19th in scoring with 61.8 points per game, the Bearcats 16.6 scoring margin is 26th , they also rank 35th in free throw percentage at 68.1%
— Holy Cross is 24th in scoring with 60.4 points per game, their 16.2 scoring margin is 28th, the Indians free throw percentage at 72.9% is 10th, they also rank in 3-point percentage at 37th at 31.8%
— Highlands is 44th in scoring with 58.4 points per game, the Bluebirds are 32nd in allowing 42.4 points per game, their 16.1 scoring margin is 29th, they also rank 40th in rebounding at 34.3 rebounds per game
— Bishop Brossart is 26th allowing 41.6 points per game, the Lady ‘Stangs are 34th in scoring margin at 15.1
— Simon Kenton is 30th in allowing 42.2 points per game, their 66.7% free throw percentage is 49th, the Lady Pioneers are 22nd in 3-point percentage at 34.3%
— Notre Dame is 43rd in scoring margin at 12.3, the Pandas are 38th in rebounding with 34.3 per game
— Ryle is 6th in free throw shooting percentage at 73.1%
— Cooper is 12th in free throw percentage at 72.6%
— St. Henry is 20th in free throw percentage at 69.9%
— Newport Central Catholic is 33rd in free throw shooting percentage at 68.4%
— Beechwood is 46th in free throw shooting percentage at 66.9%
— Villa Madonna is 6th in rebounding with 39.5 per game
— Ludlow is 12th in rebounding with 37.2 rebounds per game