Ex-NKU all-time scorer Warrick still firing ‘em in
So how is NKU’s all-time leading scorer, Marques Warrick, doing these days after his transfer as a grad student to Missouri in the Southeastern Conference?
Not bad. The 6-foot-3 lefthander, a graduate of Lexington’s Henry Clay High School who scored 2,246 points in his NKU career, was the leading active scorer in all of NCAA basketball when he transferred to Mizzou in the summer.
Warrick is still the nation’s No. 3 active scorer although his minutes played for a 12-3 Missouri team are down to 16.9 a game, fifth-most at UM although with no starts, with an average of 9.2 points a game. Double that to his average minutes at NKU and that would be a most respectable 18.4 points a game. In his most recent game against LSU, an 83-67 UM win, Warrick scored a dozen points. And for the season, he’s hit on 48 of 91 field goal attempts (.527) including 23 of 48 (.479) from three-point range with 19 of 23 free throws (.826) with 25 assists and six steals to just four turnovers.
5 N. Ky. girls’ teams in state’s Top 15
No surprise that Louisville Sacred Heart, winner of the last four Kentucky State girls’ basketball championships, is No. 1 again in this week’s initial Media Poll. The Valkyries (7-2) have a 78-game winning streak going against Kentucky opponents. But right behind Sacred Heart in the No. 2 spot is Union’s Cooper High (6-3) with 173 points to Sacred Heart’s 218. The rest of the Top 15 include Covington Holy Cross (13-1) at No. 8, Notre Dame (8-2) at No. 12 with one first-place vote and Simon Kenton (11-2) at No. 13 with Highlands (12-2) at No. 15.
Here’s the entire poll, with first-place votes in parentheses: 1. Sacred Heart (12) 7-2; 2. Cooper 6-3; 3. Franklin-Simpson 11-1; 4. George Rogers Clark (5-5); 5. North Laurel 11-0; 6. Assumption 9-1; 7. Franklin County 10-3; 8. Covington Holy Cross 13-1; 9. Madison Central (2) 13-0; 10. Bethlehem 9-1; 11. Henderson County 10-3; 12. Notre Dame (1) 8-2;. 13. Simon Kenton 11-2; 14. Frederick Douglass 8-3; 15. Highlands 12-2.
Others receiving votes: Lafayette 28, West Jessamine 27, Anderson County 19, Graves County 12, Johnson Central 8, Marshall County 8, Breckinridge County 6, Owensboro Catholic 6, Barren County 4, Danville Christian 3, Lyon County 2, Spencer County 2, Knox Central 1, Manual 1.
Louisville St. X No. 1, CovCath No. 5 in boys’ state poll
The Tigers of Louisville St. Xavier are even a bigger choice than Sacred Heart. At 8-0 against in-state competition, the Tigers (11-2) are a unanimous No. 1 in the initial media poll after winning the King of the Bluegrass Holiday Classic.
Covington Catholic, after beating Lloyd Memorial Friday, 71-67, is No. 5 in the poll. Lloyd was listed at No. 17. Two other Northern Kentucky teams listed are Campbell County at No. 29 and Covington Holy Cross at No. 31.
Here’s the entire poll: 1. St. Xavier (16) 11-2; 2. Great Crossing 11-4; 3. Frederick Douglass 10-2; 4. Bryan Station 13-2; 5. Covington Catholic 11-2; 6. Marshall County 14-0; 7. Hazard 12-1; 8. Manual 12-3; 9. George Rogers Clark 10-2; 10. Green County 11-1; 11. Warren Central 10-1; 12. Woodford County 8-6; 13. Ballard 9-4; 14. Male 9-4; 15. Calloway County 13-1.
Others receiving votes: Bowling Green 40, Lloyd Memorial 39, Adair County 14, Pleasure Ridge Park 14, South Laurel 14, Butler 13, Clinton County 12, Jeffersontown 9, Ashland Blazer 8, Greenwood 6, Harlan County 6, LaRue County 5, South Oldham 5, Campbell County 3, North Laurel 2, Covington Holy Cross 1, Fairdale 1.
Local Boys, Girls state leaders
One of the best things about having one-class basketball competition in Kentucky is that the individual stat leaders are all in the same category, which is how individual competition should work. And here are Northern Kentucky’s top boys’ performers:
BOYS LEADERS
• Scoring: Cooper’s Andy Johnson is No. 14 at 25.1 ppg with Walton-Verona’s Aaron Gutman No. 15 at 24.2 with CovCath’s Athens McGillis No. 27 at 22.2.
• Field Goal Shooting: Cooper’s Roman Combs is No. 7 at 70.2 with 40 of 57. Highlands’ Nathan Rickard is No. 12 with 65 of 95 (68.4).
• Free Throw Shooting: Bishop Brossart’s Dominyq Hadden is No. 10 at 86.8 (33 of 38).
• Rebounding: Lloyd’s EJ Walker is No. 16 with an average of 10.8 a game.
• Team Scoring: Highlands is No. 3 with an average of 78.2 a game. Conner, with an average of 74.2, is No. 14. CovCath is No. 27 with a 71.2 average, Heritage Academy No. 30 at 70.93 and Campbell County No. 39 at 69.6.
• Team Defense: Beechwood is tops here, holding opponents to an average 48.7 points.
• Team Field Goal Shooting: Dixie Heights is No. 3 at 53.4 (253 of 474).
• Team Free Throw Shooting: Newport Central Catholic is No. 6 at 78.3 (123 of 157).
• Team Three-point Shooting: Three of the top nine are from here: No. 5 Boone County at 42.7 (56-131); No. 8 Dixie Heights 41.8, No. 9 Conner 41.7 (103-247) and No. 13 Beechwood 39.9 (83-208).
• Team Rebounding: Ludlow is No. 13 at 34.8 a game with 452 total.
GIRLS LEADERS
• Scoring: Ludlow’s Addy Garrett at 22.4 ppg is No. 11 in the state, NewCath’s Caroline Eaglin is No. 12 at 22.3 with Ryle’s Jaelyn Jones No. 14 at 21.9.
• Field Goal Shooting: Highlands’ Marissa Green is No. 2 in the state at 66.3 (65 of 98). Dixie Heights’ Catherine Buddenberg is No. 15 at 59.8 (61 of 102).
• Free Throw Shooting: At 91.0 percent on 61 0f 67 free throws, Ryle’s Jones is No. 2 in the state. NewCath’s Eaglin is No. 5 at 89.2 on 74 of 83.
• Three-point Field Goal Shooting: Notre Dame’s Emma Holtzapfel is No. 4 in three-point shooting at 3.3 a game on 30 of 92.
• Team Scoring: Dixie Heights is No. 11 with 64.7 points a game.
• Team Field Goal Shooting: Dixie Heights leads the way here as well at No. 14 with a 44.4 percentage (236 of 531).
• Team Free Throw Shooting: Ryle is No. 6 at 73.1 percent (106-145). Covington Holy Cross is No. 10 at 72.9 (129-177) with Cooper No. 12 at 72.6 (85-117).
• Team Three-point Shooting: Campbell County is No. 6 at 37.9 (102-269) with Dixie Heights No. 8 at 37.3 (78-209).
• Team Rebounding: Villa Madonna is No. 6 with 39.5 a game while Ludlow is No. 12 at 37.2.
Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @dweber3440.