It didn’t take coaches long to determine the favorite to win the boys 34th District title – Lloyd Memorial is the unanimous choice to repeat.
“They return the most talent,” Villa Madonna coach Trevor Gould said.
Jeremiah Israel graduated from a Juggernauts team that reached the 9th Region semifinals before falling to region champion Newport, but 6-foot-8 junior EJ Walker, who’s receiving a boatload of NCAA Division I offers, is back.
St. Henry was runner-up last year, but the Crusaders graduated four starters. Ludlow must replace Jaxson Rice, who averaged 29.9 points a game last season, and Dixie Heights and Villa Madonna seek to finish above .500.
Ludlow coach Aaron Stamm wonders how Villa Madonna senior Henry Thole hasn’t been noticed a lot until now.
“If he’s under the radar, there’s a lot of people that don’t know much about basketball,” Stamm said.
Lloyd Memorial (19-10 last season)
The Juggernauts won the district and reached the Ninth Region semifinals before falling to eventual champion Newport. Coach Michael Walker, however, is not thinking about unfinished business.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Walker said.
Israel, last season’s leading scorer, is now a freshman at Northern Kentucky University, but the next four – EJ Walker (14.1 points, 8.1 rebounds a game), junior guard Elijah Collins (6.4 points), junior guard Isaiah Sebastian (7.5 points, 4.1 rebounds) and sophomore guard Anthony Blaackar (6.4 points) return.
You could be forgiven for losing count of the number of NCAA Division I offers EJ Walker has received – his dad said it’s 27-plus. Among them: Purdue, Ohio State, Missouri, Virginia Tech, Dayton, Xavier, Texas A&M, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Butler, South Carolina.
Coach Walker said it’s the versatility in EJ Walker’s game you notice first. “His ability to play multiple positions, his ability to guard multiple positions,” Coach Walker said.
At 6-4, junior Carter Bresser, a transfer from Simon Kenton, provides some added size.
St. Henry (14-14)
Dave Faust begins his 32nd season as Crusaders coach. Last January, he broke Highlands’ Kenney Shields record for wins in Northern Kentucky.
“That means I’m old,” Faust said.
The four graduated starters – Matthew Resing, Braden Fedders, Jack Grayson and Ethan Kaiser – scored 1,353 of St. Henry’s 1,801 points (75.1%) and 611 of 801 rebounds (65.6%).
Faust said the defense won’t change much. “We like to press,” he said.
Senior Carson Shea averaged 3.2 points and two rebounds last year, and senior Drew Flanagan averaged 2.9 and 1.6.
“(Shea’s) our point guard and our best defensive player,” Faust said. “(Flanagan and Reis) are our two best shooters.”
Shane Helmle and Brady Shea stand about 6-2. They do have eight seniors on the roster.
Ludlow (19-12)
Stamm begins his second season, but he’s no novice – he’s led the Ludlow and Conner girls.
Stamm’s answer to life after Jaxson Rice: Involve more people in the offense.
Rice averaged 29.9 points a game last year.
Ludlow is not bereft of scoring. Junior guard Spencer Brandenburg, who averaged 14 points a game, will replace Rice as the primary ball handler once he finishes football season.
“Jaxson was instant offense; he was a score-first point guard,” Stamm said. “I think Spencer’ll be a score-first point guard; Spencer passes the ball well. He’s definitely improved his overall strength.”
Senior Elijah Perrin (10 points, 7.4 rebounds) should start at one forward.
“Elijah is very good running the floor; he’s athletic, he’s quick,” Stamm said. “He rebounds the ball well because of his (6-3) length. Hopefully, we want to try to get him a little better shooter.”
Three-year starter Ethan Powell, the Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, is also back.
Senior Matt Wolfinbarger is the fourth starter. “The ball will be moving a little bit more this year, and he’ll be able to show his individual skill as well,” Stamm said.
Villa Madonna (10-20)
The Vikings have not had a winning season since a 16-13 record in 2012-13, and last year’s 11 wins were the most since a 12-19 record in 2018-19. Gould said the Vikings started putting things together last year after a combined 13-38 from 2020-22.
“We just had to learn how to compete as a group,” Gould said. “There was (sic) a lot of times where we felt like we left a lot on the court where we could’ve played a lot better and had a better outcome.”
Four starters return. Senior forward Henry Thole averaged 22.2 points and 11.6 rebounds a game last year.
“He has impeccable foot skills, so he can (play with) his back to the basket and make moves,” Gould said. “And then he can take you outside, hit threes and take you to the hole, too. I think he’s one of the hidden gems in Northern Kentucky that a lot of people don’t realize ‘cause Villa’s so small, they don’t get to see him play very often.”
Thole said local coaches consider him one of the 9th Region’s top 10 players.
“It took me ‘til senior year to get that,” Thole said. “I was hoping for it last year.”
Gould said Trevecca Nazarene University (an NCAA Division II school in Nashville), and at least two Division III schools (Centre College in Danville and Kalamazoo College) are recruiting Thole.
Villa Madonna has some size besides the 6-foot-7 Thole – 6-foot-4 Junior guard Aiden Day averaged 7.6 points, and 6-foot-4 junior forward Quinn Thomas was next with 6.7. Seniors Adam Brandstetter and Tommy Wenning could compete for the fifth starting spot.
Dixie Heights (7-18)
The Colonels survived a nightmarish season: second-year coach Chad Fields had to replace seven seniors from 2021-22’s 22-7 team, and now-senior Jaxson Gray broke his collarbone the first game.
“It was definitely a rough one,” Fields said.
With so much adversity last year, Fields and the Colonels relied on four principles – Faith, Toughness, Sacrifice and Kaizen, a Japanese phrase roughly translated as continuous improvement or continuous learning.
“I’m not surprised, but I’m really, really, really pleased with our players’ attitudes,” Fields said. “I thought our players showed a tremendous amount of toughness in the offseason, of understanding what we put on the court wasn’t good enough.”
Two starters, Hudson Blank (12.9 points, 4.4 rebounds) and junior Griffin Derry (11, 3.9), are expected back. Blank was 50% from the field last season, and Derry hit 39.7% of his threes and 84.2% from the line.
“(Blank) is a strong basketball player who’s been around quite a few years now,” Fields said. “Griffin Derry is a fantastic shooter.”
Fields said Gray is a calming influence on the floor, while junior Owen Niehues is one of the better ball handlers whom Fields said “can get the team aligned.”
Senior Lavonte Parker, who transferred from Campbell County, should see extended playing time.
Something Fields won’t do: talk about the number of wins this season. Instead, he relies on a quote from UCLA coaching legend John Wooden: “Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.”
“And I think that peace of mind is a worthy goal in basketball and in life as well,” Fields said.