By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Two talented seniors were named co-winners of the 9th Region Player of the Year Award in girls basketball by the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches on Friday.
Newport Central Catholic guard Rylee Turner and Dixie Heights forward Madelyn Lawson tied for first place in the voting by KABC members. Both of them are now finalists for Miss Kentucky Basketball, an award that goes to the top senior player in the state each season.
The KABC names a senior Player of the Year and Coach of the Year for boys and girls basketball in each of the state’s 16 regions. The 9th Region and 7th Region were the only ones that had co-winners in the girls balloting.
Turner is the leading scorer and rebounder in 9th Region girls basketball this season.
She scored 39 points on Friday to finish the regular season with a 26.6 scoring average that’s second highest in the state. She entered that game with a 11.7 rebound average that was ranked ninth in the state.
Turner set a NewCath team record with 745 points this season. Her career scoring total is 1,937 points and she has more than 1,030 rebounds in four varsity seasons.
Lawson was averaging 17.7 points and 7.9 rebounds for Dixie Heights going into Friday’s regular season finale.
Over the last five years, the Colonels have won 115 games and claimed the 2021 9th Region championship with her in the lineup. Her career totals were 1,574 points and 1,064 rebounds going into Friday’s game.
In boys basketball, Covington Catholic senior center Mitchell Rylee was named 9th Region Player of the Year and Walton-Verona senior guard Brant Smithers received that honor for the 8th Region. They are now finalists for Mr. Kentucky Basketball.
Rylee is averaging 16 points and 7.7 rebounds for the Colonels and his 71.8 field goal percentage ranks second in the state. Smithers is averaging a team-high 21.7 points for the Bearcats and has 1,764 career points in four varsity seasons.
The 9th Region Coach of the Year awards went to Tim Sullivan of Cooper in boys and Michelle Gambrel of Conner in girls. Both of their teams had highly successful regular seasons with Conner posting a 22-3 record and Cooper going 21-5.
Northern Kentucky basketball coaches will meet on Saturday to select the top boys and girls players in three divisions before the post-season playoffs get under way on Monday.
Holy Cross player ends regular season as state’s leading scorer
For the second consecutive year, a Northern Kentucky player has finished the regular season as the state’s leading scorer in boys basketball.
Holy Cross junior guard Jacob Meyer scored 36 points in his team’s 88-85 win over St. Henry on Friday to put his season average at 38.4, the highest in state statistics posted on the khsaa.org website.
Last year, Simon Kenton senior Kelly Niece scored a team-record 47 points in his team’s final regular season game to raise his scoring average to 30.95. That moved him into the top spot on the state’s list of leading scorers, replacing Reed Shepherd of North Laurel, who had a 30.91 average.
Before Friday’s home game, Meyer received a plaque for scoring more than 2,000 points in his varsity career at Holy Cross. He has 962 points this season and still has a chance to become the first 9th Region player to surpass 1,000 points in a single season since Scott Draud of Highlands did it in 1985-86.
St. Henry coach Dave Faust entered Friday’s game at Holy Cross with 451 career victories. He still needs one more win to move into a tie for second place on the list of 9th Region boys basketball coaches with the most career victories. The two coaches ahead of him on that list are Stan Arnzen (452) and Kenney Shields (460).
On Wednesday, St. Henry will play Lloyd in a 34th District semifinal game and Holy Cross will play Holmes in a 35th District semifinal game. The winners of those games will advance to the 9th Region tournament no matter what they do in the district finals.
Simon Kenton grad among top rebounders in women’s basketball
Simon Kenton graduate Morgan Stamper is averaging 13.8 points and 12.4 rebounds for the University of Pikeville women’s basketball team that has a 17-11 record going into its final regular season game on Saturday.
The 5-foot-8 sophomore has the fourth highest rebound average in NAIA women’s national statistics. She has posted a double-double in 18 games and snagged 15 or more rebounds in eight of them.
Stamper is the second leading scorer on the Pikeville team, shooting 47.6 percent (142 of 298) from the field. She has been a starter in every game over the past two seasons and has career totals of 536 points and 527 rebounds in 49 games.
Pikeville is a member of the Mid-South Conference that also includes Thomas More University. The women’s conference tournament will begin on Monday.