The 35th District champion Covington Catholic Colonels (25-4) finished 7-0 during the regular season against region opponents including a 4-0 record against the region field. During their seven-game winning streak, they’ve beaten last year’s 8th Region champion Oldham County, the defending 11th Region champion Madison Central and 13th Region contender North Laurel.
CovCath has motivation entering the 9th Region boys basketball tournament that starts Saturday at the BB&T Center at Northern Kentucky University. St. Henry bounced CovCath, 61-60 in the first round of the region tournament last year. That marked the earliest exit for CovCath since 2012.
Junior guard Evan Ipsaro leads the Colonels averaging 22.5 points per game and senior 6-foot-8-inch center Mitchell Rylee averages 16.4. Junior 6-6 forward Chandler Starks follows at 9.6 and also leads the Colonels averaging 8.7 rebounds per game.
“I think that’s why you play the tough schedule is to get them ready for this time of the year,” said Scott Ruthsatz, CovCath Head Coach. “Now you’re one-and-done. But you have to have some reference points on going back and say, ‘How did we play this team? Who’s this team similar to? Defense has basically been our mantra all year. That will get you an opportunity to win most games even if you don’t shoot well and things like that. So we’ve spent a lot of time in film really dissecting our defense, not necessarily our offense. Everybody likes to score. We have a lot of weapons. But defensively, we have to take that to another level in order to compete in the region.”
The Colonels drew 33rd District runner-up Cooper (22-6) in the first round Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The teams did not play during the regular season.
The Jaguars are led by junior 6-9 forward Caleb Brooks. Brooks averages 14.4 points per game.
Cooper likes to slow down the pace offensively and work for good shots. The outside shooting could be a key for this game. The Jaguars average 5.3 made three-pointers per game led by senior guards Blake Berry and Montana Phillips.
The first game at 1 p.m. Saturday features the defending state champion and three-time 36th District champion Highlands Bluebirds (22-8) against the 34th District runner-up Lloyd Memorial Juggernauts (21-7). Lloyd Memorial came to Fort Thomas on Feb. 8 and came away with a 91-78 win.
The three returning starters from last year’s state championship lead the way for Highlands. Senior guard Zach Barth averages 18.5 points per game and junior guard Will Herald averages 17.7. Senior forward Oliver Harris averages 10.3.
The Juggernauts have Jeremiah Israel, EJ Walker and Garrett Vogelpohl averaging 16.5, 10.6 and 10.3 points per game. Lloyd Memorial gave Highlands issues with its athleticism during the regular season.
In the evening session, the 34th District champion Dixie Heights red Colonels (20-6) lead off against the 36th runner-up Newport Wildcats (9-18) at 6:30 p.m. Senior 6-6 post Billy Wogenstahl averages 16 points and nine rebounds. Senior Keirnan Geraci and sophomore Hudson Blank follow averaging 19.3 and 10.6 points per game.
“It’s been a great season,” said Roddy Stainforth, Dixie Heights Head Coach. “I have a good group of seniors who’ve played well this year. They play hard (with) great attitudes and great effort. We’ve been fortunate we haven’t had any devastating injuries. We really haven’t been impacted because of (Coronavirus 2019) quarantines. We’ve played well this year.”
Newport is back in the region tournament for the eighth straight year. Junior forward Marquez Miller and senior forward/guard Evan Snapp lead the Wildcats averaging 15.6 and 10.7 points per game.
The Conner Cougars (20-9) own three consecutive 33rd District Tournament championships. Junior guard Ayden Hamilton leads Conner averaging 17.8 points per game. Junior guards Daniel Campbell and Ayden Lohr follow averaging 13 and 12.1 points per game respectively.
They will take on the Holy Cross Indians (20-9) at 8 p.m. in the last of the four games. The Indians feature junior guard Jacob Meyer who averages 38.1 points per game. Junior guard Javier Ward averages 17.5 points.
The semifinal games take place Sunday, March 6 at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. The championship game is Tuesday, March 8 at 8 p.m.
This region has seen four state champions since 2009 when Holmes won it. CovCath has titles in 2014 and 2018.
