The UK HealthCare Boys Sweet 16 comes out swinging Wednesday morning at 11 with Rupp Arena still waking up, and the basketball tournament wasting zero time easing anyone into the madness of March.
The blind draw tossed subtlety aside and delivered the matchup most everyone was hoping to see days later: No. 2 Covington Catholic stepping straight into a first‑round fight with a No. 3 Louisville St. Xavier team with size, seniors and enough scoring threats to make any coach tighten the scouting report.
It’s two of the top three powers in the final statewide media poll. CovCath has enjoyed perches at No. 1 in other state polls. It’s the kind of pairing that usually brews awhile before boiling over. Instead, it arrives immediately, without buildup, without giving either side a chance to settle in. CovCath gets a heavyweight right out of the locker room. St. Xavier courts chaos before lunch. No one gets a warmup.
“We know we have a tough matchup,” CovCath senior guard Cash Harney said. “They have a tough matchup.”
The 26-7 Tigers bring athleticism, length and a roster full of players who can tilt a game in a single possession. They don’t just pose challenges — they pose choices. Who do you chase and who do you survive?
“St. X is an extremely athletic team,” CovCath coach Jake Thelen said. “They do a really nice job of playing read-and-react basketball. They run a lot of ball screens, but what stands out to me is that almost everything they run is designed to get their best player, Jeremiah Jackson, the ball. He’s tough to defend because he can score on the perimeter and in the paint.”
Jackson, a 6-foot-2 senior, is the centerpiece of a lineup that doesn’t have a weak link. He averages a team-best 16.5 points per game. Joshua Lindsey (14.3) is a problem off the bounce. Connor Klein (10.6) can shoot it and run the offense. Jermaine Cameron (10.0) and 6-6 Jordan Jackson (9.6) make shots and punish mistakes. Even Bryce Johnson (4.4) is the kind of shooter who ruins scouting reports if you lose him on the floor.
“They run a lot of ball screens to try and create advantages for the offense and get the ball into the paint,” Thelen said. “For us, it’s about staying disciplined and doing what we’ve done defensively all season. We’re going to guard and stick to what we do.”
This is not a St. Xavier team to be eased into. The Tigers force opponents to be sharp from the opening tip. CovCath, to its credit, has been sharp all season.
“I’m really confident in our defense. We travel with it,” said Harney, averaging 9.8 points while supplying tough defense. “That’s what creates our offense.”
The 31-2 Colonels enter Rupp Arena winners in 25 of their last 26 games with a 31‑point average margin that borders on impolite. They’ve overwhelmed teams with pace, spacing, and a brand of controlled chaos that turns possessions into footraces and footraces into avalanches.
“We’re going to do what we do,” Thelen said. “There’s no point in changing now 34 games into the season.”
That means speed. That means pressure. It means letting guards Athens McGillis, Braeden Myrick and the gang stretch the floor until it bends.
McGillis, averaging 22.8 points with 38.4% accuracy from 3-point range, is the kind of matchup‑breaker who can flip a game with a single stretch. He’s the player who forces defenses to pick their poison — help on him and Myrick gets loose, stay home on shooters and McGillis gets downhill, overplay the perimeter and everybody else eats.
“I know I feel pretty good,” McGillis said. “To me, it feels like Braeden is always hot.”
The 6-4 Myrick, averaging 16.9 points and shooting 45.9 percent from 3 range, is far more than a shooting specialist. He’s a creator, a passer, a defender, a rebounder — a player who has augmented the Colonels’ firepower following his transfer from Mason County.
“He’s played extremely well in almost all of our games, including scoring 28 points at Moeller in a 70–58 win, and having 15 in the first half versus Conner in the regional semifinals,” Thelen said. “Braeden is a massive piece to our team. He affects the game in a lot of ways on both ends of the floor, which is what all great players do.”
In addition to Harney, McGillis and Myrick, there’s 6-7 Donovan Bradshaw (12.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg), Dylan Gaiser (4.6 ppg), Teegan Stava, Dylan Courtney, Carson Bode, John Brecount and Cash Myers.
Like Myrick, Bradshaw and Harney shoot better than 40% on 3s. Every regular player shoots better than 45% overall. Eight shoot better than 53%. The Colonels shoot 56% from the field, compared to 51% for the Tigers. CovCath averages 81.6 points per game and yields an average of 50. 3.
St. X, averaging 73.8 and giving up 57.4, will try to disrupt that rhythm with a mix of 2‑3 zone, 2‑2‑1 pressure, and run‑and‑jump traps designed to speed teams up and force mistakes. The problem is CovCath likes being sped up. The Colonels thrive in the mess that can result. They create it, manipulate it and weaponize it.
“If I had to guess, we’ll see a mix of man and zone like they’ve shown in recent games,” Thelen said. “We’ve seen every type of defense possible this year, so our guys will be prepared and ready.”
And while St. X is emboldened by close games, CovCath isn’t worried about tight finishes.
“It doesn’t worry me at all,” Thelen said. “We’ve been tested, too. We’ve played in some of the same events they’ve played in. We come ready to play every single night and my players are relentless.”
That relentlessness is the quiet backbone of this team. The scoring margin gets the headlines, but the consistency is what coaches notice. CovCath doesn’t play to the level of its opponent. The Colonels don’t coast. They don’t wait for someone else to set the temperature. They impose it.
Still, the draw is the draw, and this one is brutal. St. X is the kind of opponent expected Friday or Saturday, not Wednesday. The Tigers have seniors who’ve been through the wars, shooters who can erase deficits, and a system built to punish. They’re not intimidated by the stage or the opponent.
But CovCath isn’t intimidated by the moment either. The Colonels have been the hunted all year, and they’ve handled it with a steadiness that belies their pace. “It doesn’t matter to me who we draw,” Thelen said. “At the same time, teams have to play us, too.”
Those last lines hang in the air like McGillis and Myrick daggers. It’s not bravado. It’s simply the truth of a team that has earned its ranking, its record, and its reputation. CovCath respects all, fears none.
And that’s the real story of Wednesday: two teams with real belief, real weapons, and real paths to a state title colliding far earlier than anyone expected.
“Personally, I think we can beat anybody.” McGillis said. “If they play their best game, we can still win by playing our best game. And we’re super motivated. We all want to end up with a state championship, for sure.”
Championship-caliber basketball at the Sweet 16 didn’t wait for the weekend. It didn’t wait for prime time and it didn’t wait for the bracket to breathe.
It starts Wednesday morning.