For the last decade, Campbell County celebrated every district tournament championship. The last time the Purple and Gold were not atop the 37th District was in 2013 when Bishop Brossart won it.
Aric Russell guided the Camels to those championships. Russell retired in the offseason, but the expectation has not changed after promoting assistant Brent Sowder to the head coaching spot.
Other teams could challenge that streak.
Campbell County Camels (22-12)
“I’m the new kid on the block,” Sowder said of the 37th District. “(Scott Head Coach) Steve Fromeyer has coached in a Final Four (in 2017). (Bishop Brossart head) Coach (Ben) Franzen has been a part of multiple state championship teams. (Calvary Christian Head) Coach (Ben) Mulling has been at Calvary for years. These guys can coach. They want that district title. We want that district title, too. We’re not going to be foolish enough to think that anything is guaranteed this year. Success is not a continuum. It’s a single moment in time. We’ve had those moments where we’ve been on top of the 37th District. But that doesn’t mean anything for 23-24.”
The Camels once again made it to the region semifinals. But for the second straight year, Campbell County saw its season end in that round with a 75-67 loss to host Mason County.
Campbell County graduated three seniors from that team in Keegan Hill, Jake Gross and Aydan Hamilton. Hamilton averaged team-highs of 22.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and Gross averaged 14.7 points. Their third leading scorer Jaidan Combs transferred to Cooper in the fall. Hamilton graduated as the program’s all-time leading scorer and is playing baseball at the University of Kentucky.
The Camels still return some experience led by three returning starters in senior post Connor Weinel, forward/guard Nathan Smith and junior guard Garyn Jackson. Weinel averaged 6.9 points per game. Jackson averaged 6.4 and Smith 5.9 points per game.
“What I really love so far is the togetherness,” Sowder said. “The seniors have really taken on the role of being guardians of the program. This is the way we do things and just making sure everyone understands the standard that is required here.”
Sowder said rebounding and scoring balance will be a big key to the success of the Camels. They had 1,188 rebounds last year, averaging just below 35 per game as a team.
“We’re just going to work hard,” Weinel said. “We’re going to try to stretch the floor, working it inside and out.”
The Camels have a number of others that hope to contribute. Guard Broc Sorgenfrei brings back varsity experience. Sowder also listed senior forward Cole Johnson and junior guard Zach Franzen as key contributors this year.
Campbell County travels to Dixie Heights on Nov. 29 to open the season.
Scott Eagles (14-19)
The Eagles made it back to the 10th Region Tournament last year after missing it in 2022, losing to Harrison County in the quarterfinals.
Four players graduated from that team including Brayden Howell, who averaged 13.7 points per game. Nolan Hunter also gave the Eagles size in the middle when healthy.
The Eagles have seven seniors this year. They return their leading scorer from last year in guard Dylan Giffen, who averaged 14.4 points per game along with point guard Jon Evans.
“I like the leadership more than anything else first,” said Steve Fromeyer, Scott head coach. “We’ve had a lot of consistency. Things have been really good. They’ve been great with the younger kids. Practices have been very competitive. It’s a very good start.”
Fromeyer said the Eagles hope to be more consistent inside and outside this year with their size. Senior guard Xarek Sarakatsannis and forward Austin Huelsman give Scott size both at 6-foot-5. Seniors Carter Eten at center and forward Connor Griffin also hope to add to that balance along with junior guards Kaymon Coleman and Nate Brooks. Eten lead the team with 183 rebounds last year for an average of 5.5 per game and Griffin finished second with 119.
“We’ve been playing together for a while and we’ve built a lot of team chemistry over the years,” Giffen said. “We’ve really connected together as one. I think it’s going to be a really fun year.”
Defensively, Scott traditionally plays man-to-man, but Fromeyer said the Eagles will mix in some zone. The Eagles allowed 65 points per game, but have a big reason to be optimistic of lowering that defensive scoring average.
“It’s just what we do, and our kids actually enjoy it because they don’t know anything else,” Fromeyer said of playing man-to-man defense. “I think this is a team that can press baseline to baseline, sideline to sideline and just get after people in the midcourt. Traditionally, our best offense is our defense too.”
Fromeyer pointed out the Eagles had to deal with not being able to work out in the home gym from March 1 to September because of renovations. But he said the players handled it well.
Fromeyer has been impressed with how a number of players have shot the ball in the preseason.
Scott travels to Highlands on Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m. to open the season.
Bishop Brossart Mustangs (13-16)
Franzen took over the program before last season and guided the Mustangs back to the All “A” State Tournament for the first time in three years.
The Mustangs do not return any starters with the graduation of eight seniors. But Franzen said he sees a number of positives entering his second season as head coach.
“This group is unique in its own way. They’ve been eager to learn,” Franzen said. “They’ve been coming in gaining competitiveness as we’ve gone along. Some of that learning curve has been ahead a little bit because we’re not going over everything like we had to last year.”
Junior guards Parker Mulberry and Dom Hadden return with the most experience as the Mustangs do not have any seniors. Mulberry averaged 3.8 points per game last year making 24 three-pointers.
“They just keep pushing us,” Mulberry said of the coaching staff. “They don’t let us take days off. We’ve grown closer to them in the offseason.”
Franzen said a big key is figuring out the best combinations on the court. The goal is to be in position to advance come tournament time. The Mustangs plan to play an up-tempo style relying on quickness as they are not a big team. Franzen said the plan is to mix things up defensively and run variations of the motion offense in the half-court depending on the opponent and situation. The Mustangs played a 2-3 zone defense against Scott in the district semifinals last year.
A number of players hope to fill in roles. That includes junior forward Cam Mandel, Alex Combs along with sophomore guards Ben Doyle and Beckett Kuntz.
Bishop Brossart opens the season Nov. 27 at home against Villa Madonna at 7:30 p.m.
Calvary Christian Cougars (4-27)
Mulling was promoted to head coach in the offseason after Orlando Donaldson stepped down.
Calvary struggled in Donaldson’s last season, but a number of players return as last year’s team only had one senior in Josiah McCulley.
Two starters return in senior shooting guard Race Zachary and junior guard Maddox Rich. Zachary led the Cougars averaging 11.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.
Mulling is excited about the ability to establish an inside-outside game with freshman 6-foot-5-inch post Luke Getsy. Sophomore Collin Duty will start at point guard. The Cougars also have a transfer from Campbell County in freshman Peyton Morris.
“We’re loaded in guards,” Mulling said. “We’re going to play a fast up-tempo, lot of shots outside, get the ball to the paint kind of thing. I hate the mid-range jumpers so it’s going to be a drive-kick offense. We have the guards and shooters to do it with our big down there going block to block. We’ll have some options there as well.”
Mulling said the Cougars will throw a number of looks offensively and defensively at opponents.
“I like the effort we have,” Mulling said. “We’ve run open gyms since June when I took over. We’ve had 16 to 18 guys at every one of the open gyms. Our young guys have come on and have grown into their high school bodies. We have a group of guys that are taking it very seriously so I expect to see a totally different season than last year.”
Calvary Christian opens the season at home Nov. 28 against Milford Christian (Ohio) at 7:30 p.m.