By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
After the Covington Catholic boys’ basketball team completed its first pre-season practice session on Thursday, the players helped place bright blue tarps on the basketball court and set up tables for the weekly bingo that’s held in the gym.
The players got the job done in a matter of minutes by working together the same way CovCath teams have done in basketball games the last four years under head coach Scott Ruthsatz.
During that four-year span, the Colonels compiled a 108-29 record, won the program’s first state championship in 2014 and made it to the semifinals in last year’s state tournament.
That run of success made Ruthsatz a hot commodity in the coaching world. He had opportunities to step up a notch and become an assistant coach for a college team, but he turned it down to stay at CovCath.
“I’ve got the best of both worlds here,” Ruthsatz said. “I’m doing something I love, I’ve got the full support of the administration and we have such great kids. We can really turn them into something special.”
The only starters returning from CovCath’s state semifinal team last season are senior guard Andy Flood and junior guard Cole Von Handorf, who has already received scholarship offers from several Division I college teams.
Von Handorf, who sat out Thursday’s first practice session because of a jammed thumb on his left hand, averaged a team-high 18 points per game last year. He worked on his shooting during the off-season to improve on that average.
“He’s really elevated his ability to shoot from the perimeter 120 percent,” coach Ruthsatz said. “His first year as a freshman he was more of driver and slasher type player and last year he started shooting some threes (3-point shots) toward the end. Now, he’s shooting the three with a very high consistency level and from deeper out.”
Ruthsatz has several talented players to put on the court with his two returning senior starters, including a group of sophomores who played on last year’s undefeated freshman team.
“Our sophomore group has really good size and all of them are very skilled,” Ruthsatz said. “Over the summer, we played in a lot of team camps knowing we had to develop those kids and they really rose to the occasion.”
Holy Cross girls’ basketball coach expects team to compete at high level
The defending state champion Holy Cross girls’ basketball team wasn’t able to start pre-season practice on Thursday because a volleyball match was scheduled in the high school gym.
But that didn’t seem to bother coach Kes Murphy, who got a good sense of what he has to work with this season during his team’s summer camps.
“We had a really good summer,” Murphy said. “I’d say if we stay healthy and keep working hard we can compete at a high level once again.”
That’s a surprising statement when you consider Holy Cross lost four of the top six players on last year’s state championship team to graduation, including the top two scorers and rebounders.
Murphy will be building this year’s team around senior point guard Dajah McClendon and junior shooting guard Alehia Tucker, the only returning starters on the roster. McClendon has a chance to surpass 1,000 points and 500 assists in her final varsity season.
The Indians have another talented guard in junior Zyah Beal and Murphy expects 5-foot-10 senior center Morgan Gabbard to have a “breakout season” after her performance during the summer.
“On paper, everybody looks good,” Murphy said. “But our kids have been through it all and played on some pretty big stages last season. They understand what it takes to win and to maintain what we’ve accomplished.”
Soccer teams advance to regional round of post-season playoffs
The fields are set for next week’s 9th Region boys’ and girls’ soccer tournaments, but the first-round pairings won’t be determined until the district finals are completed on Friday.
The 9th Region girls’ tournament will be played at St. Henry High School with the draw scheduled for noon on Saturday. The eight-team bracket will include Boone County, Conner, St. Henry, Dixie Heights, Beechwood, Notre Dame, Newport Central Catholic and Highlands.
Dixie Heights will be the site for the 9th Region boys’ tournament and the draw will be held at noon on Sunday. The eight qualifiers are Ryle, Cooper, Dixie Heights, St. Henry, Holy Cross, Covington Catholic, Newport Central Catholic and Highlands.
Teams from Bishop Brossart and Campbell County earned berths in the 10th Region boys’ and girls’ tournaments. Both teams from Simon Kenton qualified for the 8th Region playoffs. The Walton-Verona boys’ team will also be in the 8th Region bracket.
The sites for the 8th Region playoffs will be Simon Kenton for the girls and Carroll County for the boys. Campbell County will host the 10th Region girls’ tournament, but a site for the boys’ tournament has not been determined.
Highlands girls, Cooper boys win conference cross country titles
Highlands posted the best team score in the girls’ meet at the Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference Championships on Tuesday, but the boys’ team placed seventh without its top two runners.
Highlands senior front-runner Ethan Shuley did not enter the race and senior Geoffrey Mearns dropped out because of “shoe trouble,” according to coach Brian Alessandro.
Shuley is one of the top runners in the state, but Alessandro said he will not race again until the regional meet on Oct. 31. Shuley adjusted his training and race schedule because his season won’t end after the state meet. He hopes to qualify for the 2015 Foot Locker Cross Country National Championships in November.
Cooper won the boys’ team title at the NKAC Championships by a three-point margin over St. Henry. The winning runner was St. Henry senior Josh Hannon with a time of 16:50 on the 5,000-meter course at Idlewild Park in Boone County.
The top finisher in the girls’ meet was Simon Kenton freshman Sophia DeLisio in 19:35. St. Henry swept the Division II boys’ and girls’ team titles.