Dan Weber writes a sports column for The River City News. Contact him at dweber3440@aol.com.
What in the name of Scott Draud is going on here? In the first boys and girls basketball stat reports from the KHSAA, the top two scorers in Kentucky high school girls basketball and one of the top two on the boys’ side reside in Northern Kentucky.
The girls are Newport Central Catholic’s Rylee Turner (32.6 points a game) and Ludlow’s Jenna Lillard (26.4), good for 1-2 in the state scoring race. For the boys, Holy Cross’s 6-foot-2 guard Jacob Meyer’s 38.5 ppg average had him right behind Robertson County’s Justin Becker who is hitting at 40.4 points a game. Although when Meyer’s school record 58 points last week against Robertson County and 54 against Bracken County in Bellevue’s Swauger Holiday Classic are figured in, Jacob is averaging 40.2 ppg.Â
*** For long distance shooting, Notre Dame’s Noelle Hubert leads the state with her 40 of 83 (48.2 percent, 4.0 a game) shooting behind the arc with Dixie Heights’ Ell Steczynski No. 5 at an even better percentage (50.7 on 34 of 67, 3.4 a game).
*** The 6-foot Turner returns to spot near the top in rebounding where she’s No. 5 in the state with 12.7 a game (127 total) two other locals are in the Top 10 – Newport’s DeAtiah White (12.3 average, 111 total) at No. 7 and Ryle’s Quinn Eubank (12.0, 108 total).
*** Dixie Heights (67.8 ppg) and Notre Dame (669) are Nos. 3-4 in scoring behind No. 1 Sacred Heart’s 72.0. Â
*** Newport (allowing 34.4 ppg) and Ludlow (34.7 ppg) are Nos. 7-8 in points allowed.
*** And finally, when it comes to scoring margin, Northern Kentucky has three teams in the top eight. Notre Dame has an average margin of victory of 28.1 points and is No. 2 overall with district-mate Ludlow No. 3 at 27.7. No. 8 is Dixie Heights at 20.1.
*** Now for the boys after Meyer’s scoring: No. 10 in state scoring is Holmes’s Quantez Calloway, straight off the football field, averaging 26.8 ppg in 10 games. Covington Catholic junior point guard Evan Ipsaro leads the balanced scoring attack of Northern Kentucky’s top team with 21.9 ppg good for No. 40 in the state.
*** Northern Kentucky has three of the state’s top 15 field goal shooters with Simon Kenton’s Gabe Dynes No. 3 at 77.1 percent (27 of 35) behind Russellville’s Anthony Woodard’s 87.1 (12 of 14). Two other top shooters are Dixie’s Billy Wogenstahl (70.3 percent on 64 of 91) and CovCath’s Mitchell Rylee’s 69.5 (66 of 95).Â
*** Not many free throw leaders here although some pretty good shooters. Conner’s Landen Hamilton is tops at 87.8 on 36 of 41, good for No. 17 overall with Ipsaro next at 86.4 (51 of 59). Â
*** Ryle’s Donovan Robinson, at 50.7 percent from behind the arc (37 of 73) is second in the state while Highlands’ William Herald (41.2 on 35 of 85) is No. 13.
*** The Dayton Greendevil pair of Lorenzo Price (12.9 rebounds a game) and Preston Baggett (11.6) are 1-2 in Northern Kentucky and Nos. 6 and 11 in the state.Â
*** A pair of Covington schools, CovCath (76.5 ppg) and Holy Cross (76.1 ppg) are 1-2 in Northern Kentucky and Nos. 10 and 14 in the state in scoring. Â
*** On the other side of the ledger, Cooper leads Northern Kentucky on defense holding teams to 47.3 ppg while Bishop Brossart is No. 14 at 49.1 while high-scoring, fast-paced CovCath is at least on the list allowing 54.6 ppg, good for No. 43.
*** Which probably makes this next category no surprise. With a 21.9 average scoring margin against opponents, CovCath is No. 3 in the state behind No. 1 Boyd County’s 26.0. Next best in Northern Kentucky is Boone County’s 18.9 margin good for No. 13.
*** CovCath is high in the next category, field goal percentage, where the Colonels are No. 2 in the state at 56.5 percent (287 of 508) right ahead of No. 3 Dixie’s 56.1 (217 of 387). Both trail No. 1 Pikeville’s 58.0 (240 of 414).  Â
*** Like it is for the girls, no leaders for free throw shooting for the boys. Conner at 75.4 (95 of 126) is No. 16 overall with CovCath No. 17 at 75.2 (115 of 153).
*** Ryle and Boone County are Northern Kentucky’s 1-2 three-point-shooting teams at 41.8 and 41.6 percent respectively good for Nos. 7-8 in the state. CovCath is No. 12 in the state at 40.9.
*** No surprise here that with its 1-2 Price-Baggett punch, Dayton is the state’s No. 1 rebounding team (41.5 a game). Only other Northern Kentucky team in the Top 15 is Holy Cross at No. 15 with 35.5 a game.
*** STOP BY LUDLOW FOR A LOOK: If you happen to be headed west out toward River Road (or Elm Street as the folks in Ludlow call it), you might want to slow down as you hit Helen Street and take a look to your right as the Lemker Field major renovation project is well under way. They’re putting in the layers of infield needed for the kind of professional job the Ludlow Independent School District along with the City of Ludlow, the Cincinnati Reds Community Fund as well as Duke Energy and St. Elizabeth Healthcare have partnered on. When completed, there will be a turf infield, a redesigned outfield, new fencing, a new backstop, and new dugouts. If you’ve seen the way Covington’s renovated Meinken Field has turned out, that’s the way Lemker Field will look.
*** KSR RANKS TOP 25 BOYS TEAMS: The latest rankings are almost a week old from the Kentucky Sports Report and will certainly change once the King of Bluegrass tourney won by Covington Catholic and the under way Lexington Catholic tournament finish up this week but here they are: 1) Louisville Ballard; 2) George Rogers Clark; 3) CovCath; 4) Lexington Catholic: 5) Bowling Green; 6) North Laurel; 7) Ashland; 8) Lincoln County; 9) Louisville Manual; 10) Bowling Green Greenwood; 11) North Oldham; 12) Pulaski County; 13) McCracken County; 14) Lyon County; 15) Louisville Male; 16) Lexington Henry Clay; 17) Madison Central; 18) Pikeville; 19) Louisville Western; 20) Highlands; 21) Pleasure Ridge Park; 22) Bardstown; 23) Dixie Heights; 24) Mason County; 25) Shelbyville Collins.
*** BACK IN ACTION IN FLORIDA: Keep an eye on CovCath in Florida at The Battle of the Villages this week as the Colonels face off against top teams – including two defending state champs in Florida in different classes – this week. CovCath’s Monday opener is against Florida Class 6A defending champion Bartow and a quick look at the rosters in CovCath’s bracket with Bartow, Concord Academy out of North Carolina and Orlando Christian, there are five players 6-5 or taller including a 6-8 and 6-9 player on Concord, five players 6-5 or taller on Bartow including a 6-7 and 6-8 player, and five more on Orlando Christian including one 6-10 player, two 6-8 players, one 6-6 and one 6-5. CovCath had a tough time in its lone loss against players that size at Indianapolis Cathedral so it will be interesting to see how the Colonels handle it this week.
–Dan Weber Â
