By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The high school basketball teams voted No. 1 in the pre-season Northern Kentucky boys’ and girls’ coaches polls are still on top after the first month of the season even though neither of them has the best record in the area.
In the latest polls conducted by the N. Ky. Tribune, Covington Catholic (9-4) was the leading vote-getter for boys’ teams and Holmes (9-2) netted the most voting points for girls’ teams in Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties. Both of those teams got the most first-place votes in the balloting.
CovCath opened the season with a loss to Cooper, ranked No. 2 in the coaches poll. The Colonels then played eight of their next 12 games against opponents from outside the area with their other three losses coming against Louisville Trinity, Wilmington (Ohio) and Riverview (Fla).
This month, CovCath has games scheduled against four teams from Ohio, but the Colonels will also be facing four teams that are ranked among the top 10 in the Northern Kentucky coaches poll — No. 3 Newport Central Catholic, No. 4 Holy Cross, No. 5 Conner and No. 7 Holmes.
The Northern Kentucky boys’ basketball teams with the best records coming into this week are Ryle at 11-1, Conner at 9-1 and Brossart at 10-3. Conner was not voted among the top 12 teams in the pre-season coaches poll, but the Cougars were ranked No. 5 this week.
Holmes remained the top team in the girls’ coaches poll because eight of its nine wins were by margins of 20 points or more. The Bulldogs’ closest victory was a 41-37 win over Ryle, the No. 2 team in the coaches poll.
The local girls’ basketball teams with the best records are Highlands at 11-2 and Walton-Verona at 10-2. Those teams will face each other on Thursday at Highlands.
BOYS’ BASKETBALL COACHES RANKINGS
(First-place votes in parentheses)
1. Covington Catholic (7) 115
2. Cooper (3) 108
3. Newport Catholic 91
4. Holy Cross (2) 83
5. Conner 74
6. Newport 42
7. Holmes 41
8. Brossart 28
9. Simon Kenton 21
10. Campbell County 19
11. Dixie Heights 14
12. Scott 12
Others receiving votes: Lloyd 10, St. Henry 1, Walton-Verona 1.
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL COACHES RANKINGS
(First-place votes in parentheses)
1. Holmes (7) 88
2. Ryle (1) 78
3. Highlands (1) 61
4. Campbell County 60
5. Simon Kenton 54
6. Holy Cross 31
7. Conner 29
8. Notre Dame 27
9. Walton-Verona 18
10. Scott 15
11. Boone County 14
12. Newport Catholic 8
Others receiving votes: St. Henry 2.
Ohmer among state’s leading scorers in boys’ basketball with 30.1 average
Scott junior guard Jake Ohmer scored 35 points in two consecutive road games to raise his season average to 30.1, one of the highest in the state for boys’ high school basketball.
In Scott’s win over Shelby County on Dec. 31, Ohmer shot a blazing 83.3 percent (10 of 12) from the field with three 3-point goals and finished with 35 points. Two days later, he shot 63.6 percent (14 of 22) from the field and netted 35 points once again in his team’s overtime loss to Lawrence County.
Ohmer has scored 30 points or more in seven of Scott’s first 13 games, including a season-high 54 points against Clark County on Dec. 5. He’s shooting 48.3 percent (127 of 263) from the field overall, 40.5 percent (32 of 79) from behind the 3-point line and 87.0 percent (107 of 123) from the free throw line. He’s also his team’s second leading rebounder with a 4.6 average.
The other top scorers in Northern Kentucky boys’ basketball according to team statistics reported to the khsaa.org website are Newport Central Catholic senior forward Ben Weyer (22.1), Holmes senior guard Markel McClendon (22.1), Calvary Christian junior guard Akeem Riley (21.1) and Campbell County senior center Matt Wilson (20.2).
Local teams playing in opening rounds of 10th Region All “A” Classic
The 10th Region All “A” Classic small-school basketball playoffs will get off to an early start with games scheduled on Friday and Saturday at Bracken County High School.
Pairings are the same for the 10th Region boys’ and girls’ tournaments so double-headers will be played with a girls’ game followed by a boys’ game between the same two schools.
On Friday, Silver Grove will play Paris with the girls’ game at 6 p.m. and the boys’ game at 7:45 p.m. The games on Saturday include: Maysville St. Patrick vs. Augusta, 11 a.m. girls, 12:45 boys; Calvary Christian vs. Nicholas County, 2:30 p.m. girls, 4:15 p.m. boys; Brossart vs. Robertson County, 6 p.m. girls, 7:45 p.m. boys.
The 10th Region tournaments will resume on Monday when Bracken County plays the Silver Grove-Paris winner. Semifinal games are scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 13, and Thursday, Jan. 14 with the championship games on Saturday, Jan. 16.
The 9th Region All “A” Classic girls’ tournament will be played Jan. 11-16 at Beechwood High School and the boys’ tournament is set for Jan. 18-23 at Lloyd. Walton-Verona is the only local team in the 8th Region All “A” Classic that begins next week with girls’ games at Owen County and boys’ games at Carroll County.