By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
With the high school basketball season reaching its halfway point this week, Dixie Heights is the most surprising team in boys basketball with an 11-3 record that puts them second in the 9th Region ratings percentage index standings.
After getting off to a 4-3 start under new head coach Scott Code, the Colonels have won seven straight games behind the leadership of three returning starters — seniors Griffen Derry and Owen Niehues and junior Max Rubemeyer.

The win streak started in late December when Dixie Heights went 3-0 in a holiday tournament at Estill County.
After winning a 34th District seeding game against St. Henry, the Colonels beat Simon Kenton, Highlands and Lexington Tates Creek.
That string of victories lifted the team’s RPI to .65031. The only 9th Region team ahead of them going into this week was Covington Catholic at .68751.
Derry is averaging a team-high 17.6 points, shooting 58 percent (87 of 150) from the field overall and 54 percent (45 of 83) from behind the 3-point arc. In the win at Highlands last week, the 6-foot-3 senior guard scored 34 points, hitting 10 of 12 from the field with five treys and 9 of 11 free throws.

The other Colonels with double-figure scoring averages are 6-foot-5 sophomore forward Hunter Seng (12.9) and junior guard Rubemeyer (10.8). Niehaus, the team’s point guard and best free throw shooter, is next in line with a 9.3 average.
In the Northern Kentucky preseason coaches poll, Dixie Heights did not get enough votes to make the top 10 list. The Colonels have beaten No. 9 Highlands and No. 10 Simon Kenton and they’ll play No. 4 Lloyd in a district seeding game on Tuesday.
In last year’s district final, Lloyd defeated Dixie Heights, 37-35, in overtime. In the first round of the 9th Region tournament, the Colonels lost another close game, 49-47, to CovCath and ended the season with an 18-14 record.
Code was hired as head coach in May. He was a varsity assistant under Chad Fields the previous two seasons after stepping down as Brossart’s head coach in 2022.
Coach surpasses 400 mark in career victories
Aaron Stamm has surpassed the 400 mark in career wins in his 21st season as a high school basketball coach in Northern Kentucky.

As head coach of the Ludlow boys team, Stamm has compiled a 47-32 record over the last three seasons and now has 401 career wins. The Panthers’ current record is 10-7 and they finished 18-13 and 19-12 the last two seasons.
Stamm won a total of 354 games in 18 seasons as head coach of the Ludlow and Conner girls basketball programs. His teams posted 20 or more wins 12 times. The 2018-19 Conner team won 24 consecutive games and finished with a 29-3 record.
Ron Dawn holds the best combined record as head coach of boys and girls basketball teams in Northern Kentucky. He retired in 2021 with a career record of 520-227 that included a 429-199 record in 22 seasons as a boys coach and 91-28 record in four seasons as a girls coach.
Holmes will rebuild varsity football program
Holmes will spend the next two seasons rebuilding its varsity football program after getting approval from the Kentucky High School Athletic Association to withdraw from district playoff competition and schedule games independently.
School officials submitted that request after finishing 0-10 for the second consecutive season in 2024 with a varsity roster consisting of 23 players, including 10 seniors, six sophomores and seven freshmen.
The Bulldogs were outscored, 434-12, and didn’t score any points in four Class 4A district games. One of their district opponents was Covington Catholic, the Class 4A state runner-up in 2023 and a state semifinalist last season.
Holmes had four consecutive winning seasons from 2019 to 2022 under head coach Ben Nevels. That was before a statewide realignment put them in the district with CovCath, Mason County, Harrison County and Grant County that last two years.
Highlands will be taking Grant County’s place in that district in 2025. The Bluebirds reached the Class 5A state semifinals last season and finished with an 11-3 record.
Cooper grad joins college team’s starting lineup
Cooper graduate Liz Freihofer has been a double-figure scorer in three consecutive games since joining the starting lineup for the Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team.
The 5-foot-10 freshman guard posted the first double-double of her collegiate career with 20 points and 12 rebounds in a win over South Alabama on Jan. 11. Last week, she had 16 points and seven rebounds in a loss to Austin Peay and 16 points and four rebounds in a win over Bellarmine.
Freihofer has been named Freshman of the Week in the A-Sun Conference five times. She’s averaging 11.4 points per game with a team-high 41 3-point goals going into a conference game at Stetson University on Thursday.
“The Code ” knows the Game !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!