By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The top three boys’ basketball teams in the Northern Kentucky preseason coaches poll — Covington Catholic, Cooper and Newport — posted impressive victories in holiday tournaments on Thursday.
CovCath remained undefeated with a 71-61 win over Louisville Ballard and defending 9th Region champion Cooper topped Louisville Fairdale, 71-60, in the quarterfinal round of the King of the Bluegrass at Fairdale High School.
Closer to home, Newport defeated Lexington Catholic, 59-57, in overtime in the first round of the Mike Swauger Holiday Classic at Bellevue.
CovCath, ranked No. 22 in the nation in the latest USA Today Super 25, shot 57.1 percent (24 of 42) from the field and 87 percent (20 of 23) from the free throw line in the win over Ballard. Senior guard C.J. Fredrick scored a game-high 26 points for the Colonels, who will take a 7-0 record into Friday’s 9 p.m. semifinal game against Fern Creek (8-1).
Cooper senior guard Adam Kunkel scored 20 of his season-high 32 points in the first half of the win over Fairdale. The Jaguars (7-1) shot 60 percent (27 of 45) from the field with Kunkel going 11-for-21 overall and 3-for-8 from 3-point range. Cooper will play Louisville Trinity (7-0) in a semifinal game at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
All four teams in the King of the Bluegrass semifinals were ranked among the Top 10 in a statewide preseason poll of high school coaches conducted by the Courier Journal newspaper. Trinity was ranked No. 1, CovCath No. 3, Fern Creek No. 4 and Cooper No. 7.
Newport senior guard Mekell Burries and junior forward Tahj Harding both posted a double-double in their team’s win over Lexington Catholic. Burries scored 27 points and snagged 11 rebounds while Harding had 22 points and 14 rebounds. Neither team shot the ball well, but the Wildcats finished with a 53-40 rebounding advantage.
In the semifinals of the Swauger Holiday Classic on Friday, Bellevue (5-3) will play Lewis County (7-4) at 6 p.m. and Newport (6-2) will play Brossart (4-4) at 7 p.m.
The semifinal round of the Simon Kenton Invitational Tournament will also be played on Friday. The matchups are Conner (2-7) vs. Collins (5-2) at 5:30 p.m. followed by Simon Kenton (7-0) vs. Scott (5-2) at 7:15 p.m.