Thursday’s bout between Conner and Cooper gave the two some foreshadowing.
The Conner Cougars came back from down 1-0 at halftime to beat the host Cooper Jaguars, 2-1 to take the second seed in the 33rd District Tournament in a few weeks at Conner.
“It was just a complete battle after we went up 2-1 all the way to the last second. So it was a fight for sure on both sides,” said John Walker, Conner head coach.
Conner’s (8-5-1) Grady Noble and Owen Swaney scored the goals and Noah Walker tallied an assist. The Cougars had 12 shots and goalkeeper Owen King had 14 saves.
Maddox Pemberton scored the goal for Cooper (5-5-4) on a penalty kick in the first half. Pemberton leads the Jaguars with nine goals on the season.
“We came in and calmed down. We were kind of getting mad at each other over the penalty kick,” Noble said. “We talked it out, told each other what we need to fix and changed our mindset to playing slower and that is what won us the game there.”
Conner plays twice in the Bruin Classic at Elizabethtown Sportspark on Saturday against Elizabethtown (5-10-2) at 11 a.m. and Ballard (7-5-2) at 5 p.m. Cooper plays at Grant County (10-6) on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
Newport Central Catholic 3, Grant County 0
NewCath earned the non-region win at Morscher Field for its fifth in a row.
Chase Fields, Andrew Verst and Jonathan Green had the goals for NewCath (13-3). Goalkeepers Mason McCloskey and Mitchell Martin combined for the eighth shutout of the season for the Thoroughbreds.
NewCath takes on Murray (14-3) in the All “A” State Tournament Quarterfinals on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Louisville Collegiate.
Highlands 1, Dixie Heights 0
The Bluebirds won the 9th Region battle at Tower Park for their second straight shutout and sixth overall.
Tyler Whitney scored the game’s lone goal and Chad Gesenhues had the assist. Jack Wilson recorded the clean sheet for Highlands (9-4-2).
“It was a great game,” said Suli Kayed, Highlands head coach. “They executed. Most of the things we’ve been talking about, they did them well. Our back line was better than it had been in the past.”
Dixie Heights (6-8-1) had seven shots. Goalkeeper Brady Meyer made eight saves.
“They had a really tight back line so we had to break their back line by passing quickly so we could get them disorganized,” Gesenhues said. “Once we got them disorganized, we were able to put a few more shots on goal. We could have finished a few more.”
Highlands plays at Simon Kenton (9-7-1) on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Dixie Heights travels to Paul Laurence Dunbar (12-1-5) on Saturday at 1:45 p.m.
Beechwood 8, Holmes 1
Breaden Trejo scored five goals in the 35th District matchup.
Kye Denham added two goals, Gavin Warren with one, Trejo, Joey Yeager, Isaac Cardosi and Andric Aguilar adding assists in the lopsided victory.
Beechwood (7-7-1) improves to .500 with the victory, Warner Platt having six saves in net. The Tigers host Holy Cross on Saturday in another district battle at 11:30 a.m.
Holmes (4-11) got their lone goal from Alan Orzoco, assisted by Maximas Tafoya. Miguel Kennedy had 17 saves in goal. The Bulldogs host Paris on Tuesday.
Holy Cross 4, Scott 0
The Indians improved their unbeaten streak to four by blanking the Eagles.
Nico Voight had two goals and an assist, Will Schaffeld and Landon Bosley also finding the back of the net while Bosley and William Fisk added assists.
Wyatt Driscoll had five saves, earning his fifth shutout of the season.
Holy Cross (9-6-2) plays at Beechwood on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
Aiden Taylor made six saves for Scott (5-9-2). The Eagles return to action on Tuesday at Calvary Christian, needing to win to secure the No. 3 seed for the 37th District Tournament.
Other Boys Soccer Scores
Bishop Brossart 10, Pendleton County 0
Lafayette 3, Campbell County 0
Covington Catholic 4, Simon Kenton 1
Ryle 4, Boone County 0
Walton-Verona 2, Calvary Christian 0
St. Patrick 4, Covington Latin 2
Volleyball
Simon Kenton 3, Campbell County 0 (27-25, 25-23, 25-17)
The Pioneers won the rubber match on the road after Campbell County won the first meeting in the September Slam and Simon Kenton the second in the Cake Classic over the weekend.
Simon Kenton (23-5) had 43 kills, 39 assists, seven blocks, 71 digs and seven aces. Keira Hans had 14 kills and three aces with Jenna Kitchens recording 11 kills. Setter Sadie Rehkamp had 36 assists.
“It’s about who makes better adjustments and executes better. Campbell County is a scrappy team,” said Amy Marx, Simon Kenton head coach. “They’ve come a long way since the beginning of the season. For us, it was about working on things for the postseason, not just beating Campbell County.”
CeCe Scalf led Simon Kenton with 10 digs with libero Tori Chasteen and Sophie Spanier recording 17 each against two tall middle blockers from Campbell County in Emma Manser and Lexi Scharold. Chasteen added two aces with Alisha Hawkins and Madeline Johnson recording two blocks each
“We read around the block and once we went fast, we got the balls up and gave our hitters a chance to put the ball down,” Chasteen said. “We learned we needed not to estimate them (in the first meeting). We needed to play our best to beat that team.”
Campbell County (10-11) had 27 kills, nine blocks, 37 digs, nine aces and 20 assists. Manser had 10 kills and five aces with Scharold recording nine kills and four blocks. Ava Crowl had 10 assists and Hope Hamilton nine with Ella Thorwarth recording 16 digs.
Simon Kenton plays host to South Oldham (15-6) on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Campbell County plays host to Highlands (13-12) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Dixie Heights 3, Walton-Verona 1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-12, 25-10)
The Colonels snapped a five-game losing streak with the non-region win.
“It was great to get a win. We have had some tough games here lately and Walton-Verona was a tough match for us as well,” said Julie Kelly, Dixie Heights head coach. “(The Bearcats) are very scrappy. We focused on what we can control – our first touches on the ball and then really tried to stay in system. I feel like when we were in system, that’s when we were successful against them. When we were sending free balls or easy balls over the net, that’s when they were able to pick them up.”
Maggie Best led Dixie Heights (9-12) with an astounding 24 kills and Celia Wallace had eight kills and four aces. Christen Tarter started the offense with 22 digs and three aces. Setters Maddie Kelly and Riley Byrne had 22 and 17 assists respectively.
“I think the way we stayed positive was just coming in the middle every time and talking about what went wrong and how we can fix it when we lost a point,” Best said. “If we get a good swing or a good dig, we cheer each other on. I think we’re super close and that really helps with being a better team. There are a lot of changes that we’ve been going through. But we’re all super lenient with how it’s working.”
Walton-Verona (14-13) still has its highest win total since going 14-8 in the COVID shortened season in 2020. The Bearcats had 26 kills, four blocks, 25 assists, 64 digs and 12 aces. Winter Vandiver had 12 kills, two solo blocks and three aces and Amber Hall had 18 assists and 10 digs. Annie Allen led the Bearcats with 17 digs with Isabella O’Brien putting up 12 digs and three aces. Macie Godwin added 11 digs and four aces.
Dixie Heights plays host to St. Henry (22-7) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Walton-Verona takes on Beechwood (13-9) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Other Volleyball Scores
Calvary Christian 3, Bellevue 0 (25-10, 25-18, 25-16)
Ryle 3, Highlands 0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-16)
Holmes 3, Covington Latin 0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-21)
Conner 2, Newport 0 (25-4, 25-8)