St. Henry senior guard Matt Resing (12) and the Crusaders start their postseason on Wednesday against Dixie Heights in the 34th District Tournament. Photo provided | Noah Francis

With the postseason arrived, here’s the last look at the area’s top 10 teams. Good luck to all teams in the playoffs.

Thanks to everyone for their readership and following these rankings all season long. Look for these to continue in April with baseball and softball!

Here’s the final rankings for the LINK nky coverage area (Boone, Campbell and Kenton County):

Boys

  1. Covington Catholic (24-4, Previous Week: 2) – The Colonels enter the postseason as the No. 1 seed in the 35th District and while the Ninth Region tournament will be anyone’s game, CovCath could still be considered the favorite headed in. They’ll first look to four-peat in the 35th District.

2. Conner (18-7, Previous Week: 1) – An end of season loss to Lloyd Memorial in overtime on the road takes a little bit of momentum from the Cougars. They’ll want to avoid the 34th District come Ninth Region tournament time if they make it, the only two losses in region play are to St. Henry and the Juggernauts. Now they’ll focus on a four-peat in the 33rd District.

3. Holy Cross (21-7, Previous Week: 3) – A 26-point blown halftime lead to St. Henry to close out the regular season will leave a sour taste in their mouths heading into the postseason. Now they’ll look for their first district title since 1994. It won’t be an easy task, first needing to beat a pesky Beechwood team followed by a most likely matchup with Covington Catholic on their home floor.

Can Marquez Miller and the Wildcats make a run the next two weeks? Photo provided | Bob Jackson

4. Newport (23-6, Previous Week: 4) – Closed out the regular season with seven straight wins and will now sit back and wait for an opponent, either Dayton or Bellevue. If the 36th District plays out like it should, Newport-Highlands will be must watch come Friday night in Fort Thomas.

5. Lloyd Memorial (16-9, Previous Week: 6) – The Jugs make their debut in the top five in the final weekly rankings of the season. A win over Conner will do that. They enter the postseason winners in nine of their last 12, two of those losses to top 10 teams in the state in CovCath and George Rogers Clark.

6. Highlands (22-8, Previous Week: 5) – A 22-win season for the Bluebirds and finished as the fourth-highest scoring team in the state with 77.6 points per game.

7. St. Henry (13-12, Previous Week: 9) – A dangerous team down the stretch, winning seven of 10 including stunning Holy Cross in their last game of the season. If they get past Dixie Heights in the 34th District Tournament, they’ll get a shot at revenge against Lloyd Memorial if the Juggernauts can defeat Villa Madonna on Wednesday.

8. Simon Kenton (19-10, Previous Week: 7) – The Pioneers will try and win a third 32nd District Tournament in the last four years this week.

9. Campbell County (19-11, Previous Week: 8) – A 10th straight 37th district championship would be impressive. It’s not like they play chopped liver every year either, Scott and Bishop Brossart and even sometimes Calvary Christian have solid teams.

Walton-Verona’s Julian Dixon and the Bearcats will look to repeat in the 32nd District. Photo provided | Carla Martin

10. Walton-Verona (20-10, Previous Week: 10) – Their contest with 24-6 Grant County is tied for the most combined wins in the state in a first round district tournament matchup. Wednesday will be a dandy at Simon Kenton.

Next up: Cooper (14-12)

Girls

  1. Cooper (24-3, Previous Week: 1) – If Cooper and Ryle win their first round games in the 33rd District Tournament, will it be the second of three matchups this season? The two could be on a warpath to both the district and region finals.

2. Ryle (21-7, Previous Week: 3) – See No. 1. Anything less could be considered an upset, but Holy Cross, Conner and Dixie Heights have other plans.

3. Holy Cross (24-6, Previous Week: 2) – The first team headed to the Ninth Region tournament is Holy Cross, Holmes forfeiting their 35th District contest with the Indians due to injuries that racked up. If Holy Cross gets consistent perimeter shooting, they can play with anybody in the Ninth with Julia Hunt and Nejai Lewis in the paint.

Conner’s Anna Hamilton and the Cougars hope to pull off the upset of Ryle on Tuesday night. Photo provided | Jenna Richey

4. Conner (18-7, Previous Week: 4) – Conner-Ryle is the marquee matchup in the region, maybe even the best first round district tournament matchup in the state. Unfortunately, someone will have their season end Tuesday night.

5. Dixie Heights (23-7, Previous Week: 5) – Won 14 of 16 down the stretch and are probably the most heavily favored team to win their respective district in the Ninth Region.

Highlands’ Alyssa Harris is the lone senior for the Bluebirds. Photo provided | Jenna Richey

6. Highlands (21-8, Previous Week: 6) – A 21-win regular season with just one senior on the roster. The future is bright in Fort Thomas.

7. Simon Kenton (15-13, Previous Week: 7) – An up and down season comes with having such a young team. They got an up on Monday in a win over Walton-Verona to advance to the Eighth Region tournament.

Notre Dame’s Noelle Hubert (22) is the lone senior on the team. Photo provided

8. Notre Dame (16-10, Previous Week: 8) – Noelle Hubert is the lone senior on the team and they finished the regular season 16-10 and played one of the tougher schedules out there. They’ll be in for a war come Thursday evening against Holy Cross, assuming they get past Beechwood in the 35th District Tournament.

9. Bishop Brossart (19-11, Previous Week: 9) – A team filled with seniors and sharpshooting sophomore Zoee Meyers, the ‘Lady Stangs will be a dangerous out in the postseason. They proved that Monday in a win over Campbell County. Now they’ll go for their third straight 37th District title on Wednesday.

10. Newport Central Catholic (16-9, Previous Week: 10) – Closed the season strong by winning six of their last seven. Now they’ll try and repeat in the 36th District.

Next up: St. Henry (17-11)