If it’s happening in Northern Kentucky, we’ve got the news, and fast. Highlights: The rapid ascension of Tay Kinney and Walton-Verona’s speedy football hire. Plus, we have baseball, tennis and lacrosse quick-hitters, all in the fastest 1,000 words in sports.
NEWPORT’S KINNEY GOING INTERNATIONAL?
Newport High School basketball standout Tay Kinney has been invited to participate at the 2024 USA Basketball Men’s U17 National Team training camp. It’s a 36-player camp at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Camp begins June 15. A 12-member team will be announced later in June. Kinney is a rising junior for the two-time defending 9th Region champion Wildcats. He averaged a team-best 17.5 points per game his sophomore season.
Team USA plays in the 2024 FIBA U17 Men’s World Cup June 29-July 7 in Istanbul, Turkey. Training camp participants represent high school graduating classes of 2025 and 2026. Selections are made by the USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team Committee. Camp will be led by 2024 USA Men’s U17 National Team head coach Sharman White (Pace Academy, Georgia). He’s assisted by Scott Fitch (Fairport High, New York) and Chet Mason (Brush High, Ohio).
Team USA has won the gold medal at each FIBA U17 Men’s World Cup. This dates back to 2010. The U.S. has not dropped a game in tournament history, going 44-0 all-time with six consecutive gold medals. The seventh FIBA Men’s U17 World Cup features 16 teams worldwide. All advance to the single-elimination tournament following group play.
Team USA plays France in its opening game June 29 at 10:30 a.m. ET. Team USA faces Guinea July 1 at 8 a.m. ET. Group B play closes for the team against China July 2 at 5:30 a.m. ET. The U.S. is 4-0 all-time against China.
WALTON-VERONA INTRODUCES NEW FOOTBALL COACH
Gary Pence was introduced as Walton-Verona’s new head football coach Tuesday at the high school commons. Pence, a longtime Cooper assistant, replaces 15-year coach Jeff Barth. Barth won a school-record 117 games with a .650 winning percentage. He put together 13 straight non-losing seasons at Walton-Verona. A 6-6 finish in 2015 was the only year he didn’t have a winning record in that span. Barth recently resigned.
Pence’s 10 years as Cooper assistant was punctuated by last season’s Class 5A state championship game appearance by the Jaguars. He held roles as freshman head coach and junior varsity head coach while also acting as varsity assistant. As an assistant, he was special teams coordinator and helped with the offense.
“I’m am so honored, excited and blessed to be the third head coach in Walton-Verona football history,” Pence said. “Coach (Woody) McMillen first and then coach Barth all these years laid such a great foundation. I look forward to continue to build on that and work to take that next step forward as a program.”
Pence said his phone blew up after his first appointment as a varsity head football coach.
“My phone has been nonstop today with messages and calls,” Pence said. There are no words to describe how much this means to me. I look forward to getting to know everyone in the Walton-Verona community. And working with the youth and middle school football programs as well.
Pence said his motto is One Heartbeat. “Because we are truly all in this together,” he said. “It will take all of us coming together and working together from the top down to continue to build.”
Pence thanked his mentor, Cooper head coach Randy Borchers: “He coached me as a player in high school. Then brought me to Cooper after I coached at Newport and Conner. At Cooper is where I learned and grew the most as a coach and it is because of him. I truly can’t thank him enough for all he has done to help get me to this point.”
Pence played high school football at Ludlow when Borchers was an assistant for the Panthers. Pence spent Wednesday interviewing potential assistant coaches for all levels of the Walton-Verona football program.
COLONELS STAR HEADING NORTH
Covington Catholic tennis player Brady Hussey has committed to the University of Dayton. The senior standout has won multiple KHSAA state championships individually and as part of the team. He also starred in basketball at CovCath where he joined the 1,000-point club.
Hussey is the most recent winner of the annual Kentucky Wah Wah Jones Award. It recognizes a male high school senior multi-sport athlete who exemplifies the essence of a student-athlete.
A four-time 9th Region champion, Hussey is part of a long line of tennis players. His mother, Kara Molony Hussey, and aunt, Lyndsey Molony Maynard, were doubles state champions in 1997 at Notre Dame Academy. Kara is the University of Cincinnati’s all-time winningest player and a member of the UC Athletic Hall of Fame. She played professionally in the Women’s Tennis Association. His aunt Molly Molony Greene was also a state doubles champion.
Brother Austin played collegiately at the University of Kentucky and University of North Carolina-Wilmington. Hussey’s extended family has combined to win more than 30 individual and team regional championships.
NKU’S HISTORIC SEASON ENDS AT COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
The high-powered Northern Kentucky University baseball team ran into some high-octane pitching and bowed out of the 2024 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship with a pair of losses at the Knoxville Regional. The No. 4 seed Norse (35-24) lost to overall No. 1 Tennessee, 9-3 in the tournament opener at UT’s Lindsey Nelson Stadium. They managed just six hits, two each from Treyvin Moss and Brennan Rowe. Moss had a double. Rowe added a triple.
Southern Mississippi held NKU to two base hits in a 6-0 win in the second game of the double-elimination round. Moss and Rowe had one hit each. NKU collected eight hits and three runs in the two tournament games. The combined record of the winning pitchers who shut down the Norse is 21-6. NKU pitcher Ben Gerl held Southern Mississippi to six hits in 5.2 innings. Aaron Massie tossed two shutout innings of hitless relief after Clay Brock escaped by allowing just one run. Gerl surrendered five runs, all earned.
The Norse were making their first appearance in the 64-team field by virtue of their first Horizon League tournament championship. NKU beat Youngstown State 23-5 in the final at Wright State. The Norse led the Horizon League in batting. They hit .315 and scored an average of 9.2 runs per game. They scored at least 15 runs in a game 12 times and scored at least 20 runs on four occasions. Coach Dizzy Peyton expects to lose a lot of players from this year’s historic Norse squad. They have five graduate students and 14 seniors on roster. There are 12 juniors.
KENTUCKY JUNIOR ALL-STARS BEAT SENIORS
The Kentucky Junior All-Stars defeated the Seniors, 79-78, in girls basketball June 1 at Eastern High School in Louisville. Representing the area for the junior girls are three players. They are Newport Central Catholic guard Caroline Eaglin, Notre Dame center Sophia Gibson and Highlands post player Marissa Green. Eaglin and Gibson started for the Juniors. Eaglin is heading to Northern Kentucky University. Gibson recently committed to Yale University. Green is receiving Division I offers.
Green led the contingent with nine points and added six rebounds and three blocked shots. Eaglin hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight points. Gibson had three points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
Niah Rhodes from Frederick Douglass drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to win it for the Juniors. They rallied from a nine-point fourth quarter deficit with a 24-14 scoring advantage in the final period. Danville Christian’s Grace Mbungua led the Juniors with 19 points. Russell’s Shaelynn Steel led the Seniors, also with 19. The Juniors bounced back from a loss to the Indiana Junior all-stars.
LOCAL LACROSSE STARS HONORED
The Kentucky Scholastic Lacrosse League named Mr. and Ms Kentucky Lacrosse and announced first- and second-team all-state selections. Louisville Trinity’s Sam Alexander and Kaelin Truman from Sacred Heart are Mr. and Ms. Lacrosse.
Area first-team all-state recognition goes to all girls. They are Cooper’s Samantha Sandefur, Dixie Heights’ Brynn Wainscott, Ryle’s Lilly Haroules and Notre Dame Academy’s Hannah Powers. Second-team selections include Cooper’s Kathrynne Day, Dixie’s Zebryiah Humphrey, Ryle’s Bella Ingalls and Notre Dame’s Hannah Dusing.
SPEED READS
The annual Northern Kentucky all-star series begins Wednesday with Junior and Senior all-star volleyball matches. Starting times are 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. at Dixie Heights. The East-West senior all-star football game is Thursday 7:30 p.m. at Dixie Heights. The baseball all-star games for juniors and seniors are June 10 at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. at Dixie. The softball all-star games are June 11 at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. at Dixie.
Newport Central Catholic baseball player Connor Seiter has committed to Wilberforce University. Seiter ranked third on the Thoroughbreds with a .347 batting average this season and led the team with 25 RBI. He struck out just nine times in over 100 plate appearances. As a pitcher, he started 10 games and posted a 2-6 record.
Covington Catholic rising sophomore Spencer Clukey received his first college football offer from the University of Kentucky. Clukey, who plays tight end and defensive end, received the offer following a Monday camp visit to Kentucky. His On3 recruiting profile has him listed at 6-4 and 230 pounds.