By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
After sitting out 11 games with a knee injury, senior guard Sean McNeil has made an impressive comeback for the Cooper boys’ basketball team.
McNeil has been a double-figure scorer in six consecutive games since he returned to the Jaguars’ lineup. Last week, she pumped in 26 and 37 points in back-to-back wins over Newport Central Catholic and Campbell County to account for 63 of the 117 points he netted in six games.
The Bellarmine University recruit didn’t lose his shooting touch during the layoff. In the last six games, he shot 60.8 percent (42 of 69) from the field overall, 52.3 percent (11 of 21) from 3-point range and 75.8 percent (22 of 29) at the free throw line.
Cooper has a 22-4 record and eight-game winning streak going into its final regular-season game at Scott on Thursday. The only local team that has beaten the Jaguars is Covington Catholic and that happened while McNeil was sidelined with the knee injury.
In this week’s Litkenhous Ratings for Kentucky boys’ basketball teams, CovCath is No. 2 and Cooper is No. 8.
Local swimmers post top qualifying times for state meet
Covington Catholic senior swimmer Nick Smith posted the fastest qualifying times for the state championship meet in the boys’ 200 and 500 freestyle and he’s a member of the top-seeded 200 freestyle relay team.
Last year, Brendan Meyer of CovCath won state titles in the same two individual events that Smith will be competing in during next week’s state meet at the University of Louisville’s Wright Natatorium.
Smith was a member of the CovCath 200 free relay team that placed first in last year’s state meet, but the University of Kentucky recruit has never won a state title in an individual event at the state meet.
Notre Dame swimmer Sophie Skinner posted the top state qualifying time in the girls’ 100 freestyle, an event that she won last year. Two of her teammates also earned top-seeds – Samantha Glass in the 200 individual medley and Amanda Smith in the 100 backstroke.
Those three girls are also members of the Notre Dame 400 freestyle relay team that has the fastest state qualifying time based on regional meet results.
Soccer, football standouts sign with college teams
Three seniors on the Covington Catholic boys’ soccer team that was state runner-up last season signed with college programs on Tuesday during a ceremony at the high school.
Michael Vogt, a defensive standout who helped the Colonels post 17 shutouts in 30 games, will continue his career at Centre College in Kentucky. The other players who made official commitments were forward Cole Stava with Transylvania University in Kentucky and midfielder Stephen Schutt with John Carroll University in Ohio.
Three CovCath football players who also took part in Tuesday’s signing ceremony were offensive lineman Hunter Ziegelmeyer with Dartmouth College, defensive back Anthony Best with Dayton and linebacker Alex Shelton with Eastern Kentucky University.
Ziegelmeyer and Best are both candidates for the Brian Williams That’s My Boy Award that goes to the top student-athlete in Northern Kentucky high school football. The winners will be announced at the Greater Cincinnati Chapter of the National Football Foundation banquet on Feb. 28.
CovCath basketball teams win freshmen, jayvee tournaments
Covington Catholic defeated Dixie Heights in the championship games of the freshmen and junior varsity boys’ basketball regional tournaments on Monday.
The final scores were 62-30 in the jayvee game and 63-22 in the freshman game. The CovCath freshmen team finished the season with a 24-1 record.