By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The top three scorers in 9th Region girls basketball are among the players named to division all-stars teams by Northern Kentucky coaches.
Newport Central Catholic senior guard Rylee Turner is a Division II selection. She finished the regular season with as 26.1 scoring average that was second in the state and led the 9th Region with rebounding with 11.9 per game.
Ludlow senior center Jenna Lillard and Dixie Heights senior forward Madelyn Lawson were the region’s second and third leading scorers with averages of 22.5 and 17.7. Lillard is a member of the Division III all-star team and Lawson is a Division I nominee.
Turner and Lawson were named co-winners of the 9th Region Player of the Year Award by the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches. Both of them are now finalists for Miss Kentucky Basketball, an award that goes to the top senior player in the state each season.
Turner set a NewCath team record with 745 points during the regular season. Going into the playoffs, her career scoring totals were 1,937 points and 1,044 rebounds in four varsity seasons.
Lawson has more than 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds in five seasons on the Dixie Heights varsity team.
Coach of the Year awards went to Tommy Sorrell of Bellevue and Aaron Stamm of Ludlow in Division III, Ted Arlinghaus of Holy Cross in Division II and Michelle Gambrel of Conner in Division I.
The Player of the Year in each division and the 9th Region all-star team will be announced at the coaches post-season awards banquet.
DIVISION I
Sammy Berman (Dixie Heights), Lacey Bradshaw (Notre Dame), Quinn Eubank (Ryle), Macie Feldman (Notre Dame), Liz Freihofer (Cooper), Anna Hamilton (Conner), Lauren Hawthorne (Conner), Abby Holtman (Ryle), Austin Johnson (Ryle), Kylie Koeninger (Campbell County), Madelyn Lawson (Dixie Heights), Whitney Lind (Cooper), Juliet Strange (Conner), Sereniti Webb (Simon Kenton).
Miss Hustle Award – Ella Steczynski (Dixie Heights)
Academic Award – Macie Feldman (Notre Dame)
Coach of the Year – Michelle Gambrel (Conner)
DIVISION II
Aleah Arlinghaus (Holy Cross), Grace Brewer (Walton-Verona), Caroline Eaglin (Newport Central Catholic), Marisa Green (Highlands), Julia Hunt (Holy Cross), Morgan Jenkins (Lloyd), Molly Kramer (Brossart), Nejai Lewis (Holmes), Lauren Macht (Brossart), Maya Reis (Beechwood), Hanna Robinson (Holy Cross), Rylee Turner (Newport Central Catholic), Kayla Unkraut (St. Henry), DeAjah White (Newport).
Miss Hustle Award – Madison Parker (Brossart)
Academic Award – Ali Owen (Beechwood)
Coach of the Year – Ted Arlinghaus (Holy Cross)
DIVISION III
Sydney Agriest (Villa Madonna), Jaden Bivens (Bellevue), Parker Cox (Calvary Christian), Jayda Dowell (Bellevue), Mylee Garrett (Ludlow), Lacey Holt (Dayton), Deja Joseph (Bellevue), Olivia King (Ludlow), Prestyn King (Ludlow), Jenna Lillard (Ludlow), Sydni Massey (Bellevue), Abigail Meyers (Villa Madonna).
Miss Hustle Award – Jaylah Dowell (Bellevue), Mylee Garrett (Ludlow)
Academic Award – Dejah Joseph (Bellevue)
Coach of the Year – Tommy Sorrell (Bellevue), Aaron Stamm (Ludlow)
Three wrestlers win weight classes titles at girls state tournament
Ryle junior Olivia Messerly was named most outstanding wrestler in the girls state tournament after pinning all five of her opponents in the 120-pound weight class to claim a fourth consecutive state title.
Messerly, who finished the season with a 14-0 record, was one of three local girls who won gold medals in the state tournament conducted by the Kentucky Wrestling Coaches Association on Monday at Harrison County High School.
Her sister, Addison Messerly, won her fourth state title with four pins in the 126-pound weight class. Simon Kenton sophomore Gabriella Ocasio became her school’s first girls state champion by winning the 138-pound weight class.
More than 200 girls from 64 high schools competed in the coaches state tournament. The local third-place finishers were Walton-Verona junior Sophie Anderson at 114 pounds and Cooper junior Maddie Thompson at 126 pounds.
Cooper grad will be honored during college team’s Senior Night
Cooper graduate Lexi Held will be one of the DePaul University women’s basketball players honored on Senior Night before the team’s final home game of the season on Friday.
Held has started 85 consecutive games at guard for the Blue Demons over the past three season. She will enter Friday’s game with a career total of 1,532 points that currently ranks 18th in the history of the program. She also ranks 10th in assists (373) and fifth in 3-point goals (231) in the team record books.
This season, Held is averaging 12.8 points and 5.4 assists for the 21-8 Blue Demons. In the latest NCAA Division I women’s national statistics, she ranks ninth in total assists (158) and 25th in assists per game. DePaul leads the nation in points per game (88.3) and ranks second in total assists (549).
Held scored 2,430 points during her high school career at Cooper and was named Division I Player of the Year by local coaches after her junior and senior seasons. She averaged 28 points per game as a senior and set a school record with 43 points in one game.