We’re now two weeks into the season and here comes the second edition of basketball bites, a weekly hoops column dedicated to prep hoops in Northern Kentucky along with some college and even pro info.
Snow derailed the latter part of the week last week, leaving teams scrambling to try and get games in before the snow came or having to postpone. Let’s hope this isn’t a microcosm of what the next couple of months will be with the wintry weather.
Here’s the latest hoops happenings:
Henry Thole jersey retirement
No. 32 will hang at Villa Madonna forever. The Vikings retired Henry Thole’s jersey during Monday’s game with Bellevue.
Thole was recognized, the program’s second all-time leading scorer with 1,571 points and leading rebounder with 1,041. He’s also the single game record holder for points scored in a game with 50.
Thole now plays at Xavier and is in his sophomore year, making the team as a preferred walk-on and is a business major.
Webb, Kelch hit 1k
To have two teammates hit 1,000 points in the same week has happened before, but not often. That’s exactly what Haylie Webb and Anna Kelch did last week for the Simon Kenton girls basketball team.
Webb hit the feat in the Lady Pioneers victory over St. Henry while Kelch hit the mark in the win over Scott County. Both are off to strong starts to their senior year, Webb is averaging 14.8 points and 9.6 rebounds per game for the 6-0 Lady Pioneers. Kelch is posting 11.2 points per contest and knocking down 43% of her 3-point attempts.
Lady Pioneers win Billy Hicks Classic
On top of two Simon Kenton players hitting 1,000 points, the Lady Pioneers had a 4-0 week in which they went 3-0 at the Billy Hicks Classic at Scott County and won the tournament. They took down West Jessamine, Scott County and Paul Laurence Dunbar on their way to a title.
In their 6-0 start, Simon Kenton is winning by an average margin of 23.5 points per game and have won all six games by at least 10 points. They face Dixie Heights and Campbell County this week on Wednesday and Thursday before heading to the Holiday Showcase at Frederick Douglass on Sunday to face Butler. They’ll follow the game with Butler with Madison Southern on Monday in the two-day showcase.
Highlands drops 100, adds Lorenzen
For the second time in four games to open up the season, the Highlands boys basketball team hit at least 100 points. The latest was a 100-75 victory over Oldham County in the Billy Hicks Classic. They had dropped 105 the prior week against an Australian traveling team, St. Joseph’s College.
The lineup also got a boost as Tayden Lorenzen has decided to play basketball. Initially the Bluebirds were anticipating the junior to just focus on football moving forward, but he played his first game on Dec. 12 in the Bluebirds victory over Oldham County, scoring seven points with three rebounds. Lorenzen provides some muscle in the paint and was the team’s leading rebounder last year with 6.3 boards per contest.
Holiday tournaments begin this weekend
Holiday hoops are upon us and tournaments, classics and showcases will start rolling out on Friday. We’ll have a post later in the week on who goes where so you can track when those games will take place.
Boone County boys basketball 30-year reunion
They were ranked 10th in the preseason in the region, but the 1995-96 Boone County team surprised nearly everyone and won the 9th Region title that season. On Tuesday night, they’ll get the team together for a reunion and be recognized at halftime of the varsity contest as the Rebels take on Augusta.
Jay Mulcahy was the head coach, Doug Hall was the team’s leading scorer with 19.3 points per game. Teejay Evans, Pat Mulcahy and Ben Brown were also key parts of the region championship team.
Cash Harney
I know this is supposed to be basketball related, but we’ll throw in a little football nugget as Covington Catholic’s Cash Harney committed to the University of Kentucky to be a preferred walk-on for the football team.
Harney drew interest from a variety of schools at the Division I and Division II levels, but decided to bet on himself and give football a try in the SEC.
Harney made the commitment last week. He’s the only player in program history to rush for 1,000 yards and throw for a 1,000 yards in a season. He helped lead the Colonels to a state title game as a sophomore, the state semifinals as a junior and the region championship round as a senior. Through the Colonels first four games, Harney is averaging 6.5 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. He has 1,111 points in his high school career.
McNeil and Kunkel
A pair of former Cooper standouts are still doing their thing.
Sean McNeil plays for the Cleveland Charge, the G-League affiliate of the Cleveland Cavaliers and recently scored a season-high 17 points in the Charge’s game against the Sioux Falls Skyforce. McNeil knocked down 4-of-7 from the 3-point line and 5-of-8 from the field in 26 minutes of action. This season he’s averaging 8.0 points per game in 14 games and knocking down 43% of his 3-point attempts.
Adam Kunkel is playing overseas in Spain and thriving for Zunder Palencia in the Spanish Primera FEB league. He leads the team in scoring with 14.6 points per game and was recently named Player of the Month in the league.
The two played together at Cooper under Tim Sullivan, leading the Jaguars to a region title in 2017 and making it all the way to the state championship and finishing runner-up to Bowling Green.
Garrett 500 rebounds
Ludlow’s Addy Garrett continues to rack up the milestones. She recently pulled down her 500th rebound in her career.
Garrett currently leads the team in scoring with 22.6 points per game and is pulling down 6.4 rebounds per game. Her next milestone could be the 2,000 point mark as she has 1,625 points for her career.
Stay Hot Podcast
Do you know about our Stay Hot Podcast yet? Sports Editor Evan Dennison co-hosts with Pendleton County girls basketball coach Patrick Kelsch on basektball topics regarding the 9th and 10th Region. They interview coaches, highlight big games coming up and past games from the prior week. It’s a weekly show throughout the season, so check it out here!