By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
St. Henry boys basketball coach Dave Faust gets a chance to pick up his 400th career win in front of a home crowd on Friday when the Crusaders host Ludlow in a 5 p.m. game.
Faust will enter that 34th District seeding game with a 399-357 record in 28 seasons at St. Henry, where he began his head coaching career in 1992. The Crusaders are off to a 5-2 start this season after being ranked No. 4 in the Northern Kentucky preseason coaches poll.
During the 2002-03 season, Faust guided St. Henry to the school’s first Kentucky All “A” Classic state championship and first 9th Region post-season championship in basketball.
That was one of six St. Henry boys basketball teams that won 9th Region All “A” Classic titles under Faust. He has also taken teams to the 9th Region post-season tournament 16 times over the last 27 years.
The Crusaders have played six of their first seven games on the road this season. Junior guard Wyatt Vieth has team-high averages of 18.9 points and 6.9 rebounds. Junior forward Jude Bessler is next in line, averaging 11.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
St. Henry will host this year’s 9th Region All “A” Classic that begins Monday, Jan. 13. The last time the Crusaders won that regional title was 2008.
CovCath football coach among inductees to LaRosa’s Hall of Fame
The most successful coach in the history of the Covington Catholic football program and three former Northern Kentucky athletes who attained all-state honors will be inducted into the LaRosa’s High School Sports Hall of Fame this summer.
Lynn Ray compiled a 234-132 record and won five state championships during his 30 years as CovCath’s football coach. His win total ranks fourth all-time among Northern Kentucky head coaches and he’s the only one with a perfect 5-0 record in state championship games.
The former athletes to be inducted are Bill Topmiller of CovCath, Katie Schwegmann-Steffen of Bishop Brossart and Kirsten Allen-Mitcheltree of Ryle.
Topmiller earned all-state honors in both football and basketball. He scored 1,156 points playing on CovCath basketball teams that won three straight 9th Region titles in 1968-70. He was a wide receiver in football and earned a scholarship to play for Vanderbilt University.
Schwegmann-Steffen was named 2001 Miss Kentucky Basketball after her senior season at Brossart. In addition to scoring a school-record 2,917 points, she led her teams to an All “A” Classic state championship and 10th Region post-season championship. She received a scholarship from Miami University.
Allen-Mitcheltree was named 2008 Miss Kentucky Softball after her senior season at Ryle. As the team’s pitcher, she compiled a career record of 142-24 while setting state records in no-hitters (41), perfect games (15) and shutouts (110). She went on to play softball at the University of Oklahoma.
Cooper graduate is leading scorer on Belmont basketball team
Cooper graduate Adam Kunkel is the leading scorer on the Belmont University men’s basketball team that will take an 8-4 record into a game at Western Kentucky on Saturday.
The sophomore guard is averaging 18.8 points with 40 of his 78 field goals coming from behind the 3-point line. He’s shooting 47 percent (78 of 166) from the field overall and 44 percent (40 of 91) from 3-point range.
Last Saturday, Kunkel scored 16 points during Belmont’s 92-72 loss to Alabama. One of the opposing players was Holmes graduate James Bolden, who is averaging 8.9 points off the bench for the Crimson Tide.