By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
With an 8-1 record during the month of January, Campbell County remained the top-ranked team in the Northern Kentucky girls’ basketball coach poll and the Camels have a shot at becoming the No. 1 team in the state once again.
Campbell County (23-2) begins the February portion of its regular-season schedule with a game at Louisville Sacred Heart (19-5) at 8 p.m. Friday. In the latest Litkenhous state power ratings, Sacred Heart was No. 1 and Campbell County was No. 2, so the top spot will be on the line in Friday’s game.
The Camels already spent one week as the No. 1 team in the state power rankings. But Sacred Heart jumped ahead of them after winning four games by double-digit margins in the Louisville Invitational Tournament last weekend.
Senior guard Taylor Clos scored 193 points in the last nine games for Campbell County and is now the school’s all-time leader with more than 2,200 points in her varsity career. The Northern Kentucky University recruit is among the state’s top scorers with a 21.9 average.
In the local coaches poll, Campbell County was voted No. 1 and Ryle was voted No. 2 on all 11 ballots.
Ryle won its last six games to raise its record to 20-6. This is the second time in the last three years that the Raiders have reached the 20-win mark under coach Katie Haitz.
The next two teams in the coaches poll are Conner and Highlands with just one point separating the two of them. They will face each other on Feb. 9 at Conner.
Highlands jumped from No. 6 to No. 4 in the local rankings following a six-game winning streak that included a 53-52 overtime win over Campbell County.
Junior guard Zoie Barth was a double-figure scorer for the Bluebirds in all six victories. In the game against Campbell County, she made two free throws in the final seconds of overtime to clinch the win and finished with 28 points.