Top players in Northern Kentucky could have early collision in 9th Region boys’ basketball tourney

By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter



When Northern Kentucky boys’ basketball coaches voted on the top players in three divisions last week, two sophomore guards tied for first place on one of the ballots. Cole Von Handorf of Covington Catholic and Sean McNeil of Cooper each received 76 voting points and were named co-winners of Division I Player of the Year.

Ninth Region Scores/Schedule



Last Saturday, CovCath and Cooper drew into the same bracket for the 9th Region Tournament. That means if both teams win their first-round games, the two sophomore sensations will be going against each other in the semifinals.

 That’s one of the underlying stories associated with the boys’ and girls’ high school basketball playoffs that continue this week. The fact that Von Handorf and McNeil played together on select teams when they were in grade school makes it even more intriguing.

“We’re still pretty close,” Von Handorf said. “I was probably closer to him on the team when we played together than anybody.”



Last season, Von Handorf was a freshman starter on CovCath’s first state champion basketball team. The Colonels are considered a contender once again this season, and he’s a major reason for that.



Von Handorf is averaging a team-high 17.5 points, shooting 46.7 percent (193 of 413) from the field and 86.9 percent (133 of 153) from the foul line. He helped fill the void in CovCath’s offense following the graduation of Nick Ruthsatz, the team’s leading scorer the last three seasons.



“I just felt like I needed to step up in order for us to score more points and have a better chance for us to win,” Von Handorf said.



The 6-foot guard has been a double-figure scorer in most of CovCath’s games this season. Last week, he was named most valuable player on the 35th District all-tournament team after netting 17 and 22 points in two wins.


“Throughout a game I don’t really focus on my scoring,” Von Handorf said. “If I don’t get a shot and my teammates makes one, I’m happy with that. I usually just focus on us winning and that’s worked out pretty good so far.”



McNeil’s sophomore season was put on hold when he dislocated his left kneecap during a game on Jan. 31. He ended up missing five additional games, including Cooper’s 61-42 loss at CovCath on Feb. 10.



He now wears a protective sleeve to support his left knee when he plays, but that didn’t seem to hamper him during the 33rd District playoffs last week. He scored 23 and 16 points in Cooper’s two victories and was named most valuable player on the all-tournament team.



“This is my first district championship in high school and it feels great,” McNeil said as his teammates cut down the nets. “The 33rd District is probably one of the toughest districts in the state. Everybody fights like no other. There’s nothing like coming out on top.”


At the end of the regular season, McNeil had team-high averages of 17.4 points and 5.7 rebounds. His shot totals weren’t very high because he missed five games, but his percentages were still impressive. He made 48.7 percent (38 of 78) of his 3-point attempts and 84.1 percent (69 of 82) of his free throws.



“The fun thing about watching Sean is that he doesn’t look like he’s ever trying to be selfish,” said Cooper coach Tim Sullivan. “We trust the fact that he’s not going to take bad shots. We need him to shoot the ball, but he’s not going to take a bad shot and he’ll find the open man.”


McNeil stepped up when his team needed him in both district tournament victories. After making only one basket in the first half of the district final, he scored eight points in the third quarter when Cooper surged into the lead. In the other game, he had five points and one assist during a 10-0 run that put the Jaguars ahead, 41-31, going into the fourth quarter.



All of that made up for the angst McNeil dealt with while he was recovering from his knee injury.



“It was awful not being able to play the game I love,” he said. “It was kind of my decision, but I wanted to sit it out and be ready for tournament time. I played it safe and played it right.”

Terry Boehmker, NKyTribune sports writer, is former sportswriter and editor for The Kentucky Post. He is an award-winning writer with extensive background in both print and digital. Reach him at terryboe@yahoo.com.