By Terry Boehmker
NKy Tribune sports reporter
Brett Slusher, one of five finalists for the “That’s My Boy Award” that’s given to the top student-athlete in Northern Kentucky high school football each year, has made a commitment with Morehead State University.
Slusher was a two-way starter at linebacker and slot back for the Beechwood football team that was Class A state runner-up last season. He said the Morehead coaching staff recruited him to be a pass receiver.
“I had a couple options other than Morehead, but it was mostly walk-on spots,” Slusher said. “When it came down to it, I felt comfortable at Morehead and liked the coaching staff. They run an offense that benefits my position and I just felt like that was the right place for me to go.”
Slusher was a double-threat on offense during his senior season at Beechwood. As a pass receiver, he had 59 catches for 1,150 yards and 20 touchdowns. He also rushed for 488 yards and 10 TDs.
He’ll be joining a Morehead team that averaged 314 passing yards per game last season when the Eagles posted a 7-4 record in the Pioneer League.
“They pass all the time,” Slusher said. “I got real excited about that when I took my (recruiting) visit and they gave me their statistics on the offensive side. They throw to their wide receivers a lot.”
Morehead does not offer athletic scholarships for football, but Slusher said academic grants would pay for most of his college expenses. His outstanding work in the classroom is one reason he’s among the five finalists for the “That’s My Boy Award.”
The annual award is based on a system that awards points for football accomplishments, academic achievement and extracurricular or community activities. The other finalists are Conner quarterback Kyler Padgett, Simon Kenton running back Dillion Powell, Covington Catholic linebacker Cameron Pitzer and Holmes linebacker Sean Sullivan. The winner will be announced during the Greater Cincinnati Chapter of the National Football Foundation awards ceremony on March 1 at the Westin Cincinnati hotel.
Powell accepted a football scholarship from Wayne State University in Michigan, an NCAA Division II program. Padgett and Sullivan are also being recruited by college teams. Pitzer received a scholarship to study engineering at the University of Cincinnati and may play football as a walk-on.
Local bowlers ready to roll in state singles tournament
The state high school bowling tournament begins Thursday with boys’ and girls’ singles competition at Collins Eastland Lanes in Lexington.
Andy Campbell of Highlands placed fifth in boys’ singles last year with 1,018 pins in five games for a 203 average. He’s returning for another shot at the title along with seven other local qualifiers — Jake Farley of Highlands, Cory Spivy of Dixie Heights, Adam Zimmerman of Covington Catholic, Andrew Blood of Cooper, Jacob Lawson of Simon Kenton, P.J. Rump of Beechwood and Sam Fleissner of Brossart.
Two of the top returning bowlers in girls’ singles are Taylor Evans of Boone County and Elizabeth Masminster of Dayton, who placed fifth and sixth in the state tournament last year. The other local girls in the field this week are Kayla Hightchew and Kara Strong of Boone County, Sierra Brandt of Cooper, Kaylee Hitt of Campbell County, Vanessa Cheesman of Simon Kenton and Katelyn Schneider of Highlands.
The state tournament concludes on Friday when the top two teams from eight regions will compete for the boys’ and girls’ championship trophies.
The local qualifiers in the boys’ tournament are Highlands and Campbell County from Region 5 along with Dixie Heights and Boone County from Region 6. Last year, Boone County made it to the state semifinals.
The girls’ field includes Highlands and Simon Kenton from Region 5 and Boone County and Cooper from Region 6. Boone County was state runner-up last year.
Jaime Walz-Richey’s long-standing basketball scoring record surpassed
The state record for most career points in high school basketball no longer belongs to Jaime Walz-Richey of Highlands.
The record was broken last week when Jenkins senior guard Whitney Creech scored 71 points in an overtime game against Paintsville to raise her career total to 4,957 points. That surpassed the 4,948 points that Walz-Richey scored for Highlands during her five-year varsity career that ended in 1996.
Walz-Richey is now head coach at Highlands. No one came close to breaking her career scoring record for nearly 20 years until Creech came along. She has been playing varsity basketball for Jenkins since the fifth grade.
Creech netted 64 points in her team’s last game to lift her career total to 5,021. This season, she has scored 1,170 points in 23 games for a 50.9 average. The state record for highest single-season average by a girls’ basketball player is 49.6, set by Geri Grigsby of McDowell in 1976-77.
Conner girls’ basketball coach notches 200th career victory
Conner girls’ basketball coach Aaron Stamm surpassed the 200 mark in career wins last week when his team won back-to-back games against Boone County and Newport.
Stamm’s career record now stands at 201-148 in 12 seasons at two schools. He compiled a 104-68 record in six seasons at Ludlow before taking over the Conner program and now has a 97-80 record in his sixth season with the Cougars.
Ludlow qualified for the 9th Region tournament in three of the six years that Stamm was head coach. He returned to the regional tournament in 2014 with his Conner team.
Stamm was named 9th Region Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2013 by the Northern Kentucky High School Girls Basketball Coaches Association.