Good news happens fast in Northern Kentucky. Let’s roll.
HOLY CROSS, DIXIE HIGHTS CAPTURE BOWLING CROWNS: The Holy Cross boys bowling team outlasted Ryle by a single pin to win the Region 6 team final, 206-225, 199-168, 223-210, 158-166, 200-199. In the girls final, Dixie Heights swept Boone County with scores of 176-163, 188-132, 171-117. All four finalists advance to the KHSAA state tournament, Feb. 5-7 at Kingpin Lanes in Jeffersontown. Beechwood won the unified team title, 136-131, over Ryle.
Individually, Cooper’s No. 2 seed, senior Tyler Ketron, rolled past Boone County’s top-seeded Antonio Williams, 238-227, in the boys final. In the girls final, Dixie Heights’s top-seeded Alyssa Bechtol, an eighth-grader, beat No. 2 seed Alexis Tignor of Cooper, 247-195. All advance to state.
The Region 5 Tournament at Super Bowl Bellewood in Newport starts Monday and runs through Tuesday.
PIONEERS PIN DOWN COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS: Host Simon Kenton put together a pair of victories from state No. 1 Brayden Blevins at 120 pounds and won its 17th straight Kenton County wrestling championship. They defeated Scott, 80-0, and Dixie Heights, 70-9. Scott finished the meet 1-1-1. Covington Catholic went 1-0-1. Dixie Heights finished 1-2. Holmes went 0-2. The Simon Kenton girls wrestling team, led by state No. 1 Gabby Ocasio (145 pounds), won its first-ever Kenton County title in the first year of the girls event.
MAGNIFICENT MILESTONES: Cooper senior Logan Luebbers Palmer needs 89 points to reach 1,500 in her career, according to KHSAA statistics. She surpassed 500 career rebounds in late December. With 1,496 career points, Conner senior Anna Hamilton needs four points to reach 1,500. With 872 career points, Highlands senior Nathan Vinson needs 128 to join the 1,000-point club.
WARRICK WATCH: Northern Kentucky University senior guard Marques Warrick is the Horizon League player of the week for the second time this season in honor of a pair of 21-point games, both wins. Warrick increased his career point total to 1,972. He is 95 points shy of overtaking Drew McDonald’s all-time Norse scoring record of 2,066. Warrick needs nine points to pass Brady Jackson (1,980) and move into third place on the NKU all-time list. He needs 36 points to pass No. 2 Craig Sanders (2,007).
JOLLY GOOD TOTAL: Thomas More University senior Reid Jolly from Campbell County High School has amassed 2,131 points in his basketball career, second-most in program history. He moved into the No. 2 spot Jan. 11 with a 13-point effort in a loss to Findlay. Jolly (15.7 ppg) won’t catch all-time leader Rick Hughes (2,605 points from 1992-96). He has a chance to reach 2,300. Moving down to third on the all-time list is Brian O’Conner (2,078 points from 1977-81).
HOLY CROSS’ BARNES SEALS IT FOR LIONS: Playing linebacker for the Detroit Lions, former Holy Cross standout Derrick Barnes came up with a game-sealing interception of Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield with 1:33 to play in Sunday’s NFC divisional round contest. The pick, Barnes’ first career interception, lifted the Lions to a 31-23 win over the Buccaneers and put Detroit one victory away from the Super Bowl. The Lions play the 49ers in Sunday’s NFC Championship game. A Lions fourth-round pick in 2021 out of Purdue, Barnes started a career-high 13 games this season. He finished third on the team with 82 total tackles.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW: Sean McNeil, a 2018 Cooper grad, enjoyed back-to-back 29-point games in December for Nevezis of the Lithuanian Basketball League, the country’s top-tier league. The 6-foot-4 former West Virginia and Ohio State player, who went undrafted by the NBA in 2023, shot 10-for-15 from the field including 5-for-7 from 3-point range in a win against first-place Zalgiris. He was 12-for-15 with three 3-pointers in a loss to Lietkabelis. The point guard is averaging 13.8 points per game, ranking second on the team.
SPEED READS: The Covington Catholic at Lloyd basketball game snowed out Friday has been rescheduled for 7:30 pm Feb. 12, according to Lloyd coach Michael Walker.
Holy Cross first-year head basketball coach Ricardo Johnson recorded his first district win against a familiar foe on Friday. The Indians earned a 65-57 home victory over Holmes, where Johnson played high school basketball and helped lead the Bulldogs to the 2009 state championship.
Villa Madonna senior Henry Thole had 31 points and 31 rebounds Thursday in a win over Heritage Academy. It’s the area’s only 30-30 double-double this basketball season.
Seventh-grader Jayden McClain, an up-and-comer for the Ryle girls basketball team, has a college offer from Kentucky. The class of 2029 standout has offers from Cincinnati, Xavier, Ohio State, Pittsburgh and Mississippi State, according to Ryle coach Katie Haitz.