What a season its been for milestones. St. Henry’s David Faust breaking the Ninth Region wins record as a coach, Covington Catholic’s Scott Ruthsatz becoming the all-time wins leader for the Colonels, Aric Russell doing the same at Campbell County.
Now it’s time for Holy Cross senior Jacob Meyer to break the Ninth Region scoring record. He enters the week 57 points shy of Beechwood’s Scotty Draud’s Ninth Region record of 3,128 points. The Indians play Newport Central Catholic on Wednesday and if Meyer duplicates his 58-point outburst like he did on Saturday against Walton-Verona, he’ll break it then. Not that I doubt Meyer to accomplish the feat Wednesday, but my money is on Saturday night when the Indians host Dixie Heights.
Some other impressive feats include Cooper’s Whitney Lind second all-time on the Jaguars scoring list and depending how far Cooper can go in the postseason, Lind has an outside shot to catch Lexi Held’s school record of 2,430 points. Ryle’s Abby Holtman is the all-time 3-point shooter at Ryle while Highlands Will Herald approaches top 10 in KHSAA history for 3-pointers made.
Salute to these kids and any others that have accomplished an impressive milestone. As the season winds down, keep an eye out for some others who have put up impressive careers.
Now for the weekly LINK nky rankings, here’s a look at the top 10 teams in the area (Boone, Campbell and Kenton County):
BOYS
- Conner (15-6, Previous Week: 2) – St. Henry in the second game of the season remains their only Ninth Region loss. Wins over Covington Catholic, Holy Cross and Newport have to make the Cougars the favorite to win the region right now. At Highlands on Friday and at Lloyd next week would make them the undisputed No. 1 here with wins over the top six teams in the rankings.
2. Covington Catholic (20-3, Previous Week: 1) – After winning their prior two overtime contests over Cooper and Campbell County, their overtime magic ran out in a double overtime loss to Male on Saturday at Madison Central. Over their last six games, three have gone to overtime and two others were decided by four and six points.
3. Holy Cross (18-6, Previous Week: 3) – Recharged the batteries after their All “A” run and then knocked off Beechwood and Walton-Verona on consecutive nights. The Beechwood win secured the No. 2 seed in the 35th District while the win over Walton-Verona was at the famed “Hoosiers” gym. Javier Ward hit his 1,000th career point milestone in the win over Beechwood.
4. Newport (18-6, Previous Week: 4) – After consecutive losses the prior week, the Wildcats looked to have gotten their swagger back in wins over Bellevue and Harlan County. The win over Harlan County on Saturday was a highlight reel, Newport playing above the rim with several dunks. The win over Bellevue clinched the No. 1 seed in the 36th District. They’ll await the Dayton-Bellevue winner on Feb. 22 in the semifinals of the district tournament. Shout out to Newport’s Marquez Miller for hitting the 1,000-point marker for his career.
5. Highlands (20-6, Previous Week: 5) – The Bluebirds have won six in a row headed into a solid matchup on Tuesday at Lloyd Memorial. The win streak will definitely get tested with Lloyd, hosting Conner on Friday and at Breathitt County on Saturday this week.
6. Lloyd Memorial (14-7, Previous Week: 8) – Peaking at the right time? The Juggernauts have won a season-high five straight games including Thursday’s district contest over St. Henry which gave them the No. 1 seed in the 34th District for the first time in program history. They’ve also won seven of eight, the only loss coming to Covington Catholic in a tightly contested matchup. The Jugs are playing well and have Highlands at home on Tuesday before a matchup with defending state champ George Rogers Clark on Saturday in Winchester. I may have missed it the prior week, but shout out Jeremiah Israel for hitting the 1,000-point marker for his career.
7. Campbell County (15-10, Previous Week: 7) – Nearly had their best win of the season in an overtime loss to Covington Catholic, letting a 10-point fourth quarter lead slip away. Aydan Hamilton became just the second Camel to hit the 2,000-point mark for his career in the loss to the Colonels.
8. Simon Kenton (16-8, Previous Week: 6) – As competitive and unpredictable as the Ninth Region tournament is shaping up to be, the Eighth Region tournament is lining up to be similar. The Pioneers are one of a handful of teams that could end up cutting the nets down and heading to Rupp. Avoiding Grant County or Walton-Verona in the 32nd district tournament is a good start, but Williamstown doesn’t look to be a slouch as a four seed, either. North Oldham, Collins, Grant County along with the Pioneers are teams in the mix to win the Eighth. Owen County and if healthy, Woodford County will be in there too.
9. St. Henry (11-10, Previous Week: 9) – Another team playing its best at the right time. Have won five of their last six, the lone setback to Lloyd. They’ll get Beechwood on Tuesday and then three games to really ramp them up for postseason with Great Crossing on Friday followed by Newport and Holy Cross next week to close out the regular season.
10. Walton-Verona (16-9, Previous Week: 10) – Grant County on Wednesday determines who plays with the white jerseys or the dark ones come the time they meet in the 32nd District tournament. It will also be one of the better first round win or go home games in the Bluegrass come district tournament week.
Next up: Cooper (12-10)
GIRLS
- Cooper (20-3, Previous Week: 1) – Two of their three losses are to the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams in the state. The other is the No. 5 team in Division II Ohio Purcell-Marian. Their 7-0 Ninth Region record is by an average margin of victory of 25 points, Ryle the only team able to play them within single digits. With wins over Highlands and Notre Dame last week, the question begs, will anyone be able to stop a repeat of the Jaguars headed to Rupp?
2. Holy Cross (22-5, Previous Week: 2) – Won their ninth straight game with a victory over Walton-Verona at the “Hoosiers” Gym in Knightstown, Indiana on Saturday. Scored 90 points in doing so, they’re highest point total of the season by 14 points. If they can continue to put up impressive offensive numbers with the fierce defense they display, the Indians will be a tough out come district and regional tournament time.
3. Ryle (18-7, Previous Week: 3) – The Raiders continue their stretch of six straight road games this week with games at North and South Laurel on Friday and Saturday. They finally return home next week when they host Notre Dame in the regular season finale on February 16. What follows that will be one of the better first round district tournament matchups in the state when they meet up with Conner on February 21 in the 33rd District Tournament at Cooper.
4. Dixie Heights (20-6, Previous Week: 4) – Have won seven in a row by an average of 34.5 points per game. Conner will test that winning streak on Tuesday. The Colonels look to be at full health for the first time in a while and will be the overwhelming favorite in the 34th District.
5. Conner (15-6, Previous Week: 5) – An impressive 17-point victory over Notre Dame on Saturday gave them their ninth win in the last 10 games. The only loss during that span? Ryle. Who they’ll meet in the first round of the 33rd District tournament come February 21. A couple of good tests this week for preparation are Dixie Heights on Tuesday and Christian Academy-Louisville on Friday.
6. Highlands (17-8, Previous Week: 7) – The overwhelming favorite to win the 36th District tournament has won nine of 12 and can close out the regular season on a strong note with Lloyd Memorial, Bishop Brossart, Simon Kenton and Beechwood to close out the regular season.
7. Simon Kenton (13-11, Previous Week: NR) – Impressive wins over Montgomery County and Spencer County prompted the big jump for the Pioneers. Their up and down season continues as they hope to keep with the upward trajectory in games with Campbell County and Holmes this week. After losing four straight, Simon Kenton has now won four of six.
8. Notre Dame (13-8, Previous Week: 6) – Fell victim to the 33rd District last week, which many teams tend to do in losses to Cooper and Conner. In their eight losses, the Pandas are averaging 39.1 points per game, in their 13 wins, the Pandas put up 59.4 points per game.
9. Bishop Brossart (18-8, Previous Week: 8) – To say Tuesday’s game with Scott is huge would be an understatement. It’s massive. If Scott wins, they avoid the three-way tiebreaker in the 37th District and claim the No. 1 seed and a berth to the 10th Region tournament. If Brossart can win on their home floor, then we have a three-way tiebreaker with Campbell County and the Eagles. The way Brossart has played as of late, even in close losses to Archbishop McNicholas (Ohio) and Ryle, the Lady ‘Stangs have to like their chances.
10. St. Henry (13-9, Previous Week: 9) – A three-game winning streak included clinching the No. 2 seed with a win over Lloyd Memorial on Feb. 1. Now they have a six-game stretch to end the regular season starting with Cooper on Tuesday. The way the Crusaders defend, they’ll make things tough for anyone on any given night, allowing just 38.9 points per game.
Next up: Newport Central Catholic (15-8), Scott (12-10)
