By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Four of the eight Northern Kentucky girls high school basketball teams that scheduled a game against four-time defending state champion Louisville Sacred Heart this season lost by double-digit margins during December and January.
Highlands is the next local team that will take on the Valkyries. They’ll meet in one of four games during the Camels Classic on Saturday at Campbell County High School. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.
Sacred Heart remained No. 1 in this week’s statewide media poll. The Valkyries have a 19-2 record that includes wins over Campbell County (83-53), Cooper (60-49), Dixie Heights (93-79) and Ryle (64-52).
Both of their losses were to out-of-state opponents during December. They’ve now won 14 in a row.
During the final two weeks of the season, three of Sacred Heart’s last five games will be against Simon Kenton, Holy Cross and Notre Dame.
The Valkyries’ best player is 6-foot-1 senior forward ZaKiyah Johnson, a Louisiana State University recruit who’s averaging 22 points and 6.2 rebounds and shooting 54 percent from the field.
Highlands (15-6) will try to break a two-game losing streak Thursday when it takes on Lloyd. The Bluebirds have one of the 9th Region’s top senior players in 6-foot-4 forward Marissa Green. She’s averaging 14.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and shooting 61 percent from the field.
The first two games on the Camels Classic schedule are Simon Kenton vs. Bardstown Bethlehem at noon and Campbell County vs. South Laurel at 2 p.m. The final game at 6 p.m. will be Cooper vs. Danville Christian.
In this week’s state media poll, Cooper was No. 3, Danville Christian No. 11, Simon Kenton No. 13 and Bethlehem No. 14.
At last year’s state tournament, Cooper edged Danville Christian, 65-63, in a first-round game and went on to reach the semifinals. The Jaguars (14-4) entered this season with one returning starter, sophomore Haylee Noel, but they’ve played well enough to remain among the state’s top teams.
Last month, Danville Christian won the All “A” Classic small school state tournament, but the Warriors lost to Sacred Heart, 77-49, a few days later. In that loss, Danville Christian’s 6-foot-5 senior center Grace Mbugua had 23 points and 13 rebounds. The University of Louisville recruit entered this week with season averages of 20.5 points and 13.4 rebounds per game.
Bethlehem also has one of the state’s top seniors in Leah Macy, who made a commitment with University of Notre Dame. The 5-foot-10 forward was averaging 27 points and 13 rebounds when she suffered a knee injury in the All “A” Classic state championship game on Jan. 26. The Banshees have lost three of their last four games without her in the lineup.
Finalists selected for “That’s My Boy” Award
Austin Alexander, a two-way starter on the Cooper football team that was Class 5A state runner-up the last two years, is one of four nominees for the Brian Williams “That’s My Boy” Award for the 2024 season.
The annual award goes to the top student-athlete in Northern Kentucky high school football. The finalists were selected based on a rating system that assigns points for achievements in football, academics and extra-curricular activities.
Alexander played defensive end and lined up at tight end or wide receiver on offense for Cooper. He finished his senior season with 52 tackles and 13 quarterback sacks to go along with 45 pass receptions for 706 yards and 13 touchdowns.
He’s also an outstanding student who was recruited by several Division I college teams before making a commitment with the University of North Carolina.
The other “That’s My Boy” Award finalists are Tate Kruer of Covington Catholic, Kaleb Cole of Newport Central Catholic and Cole Howard of Beechwood.
In December, Kruer was named Student-Athlete of the Year in football by Midway University. He made a team-high 96 tackles as a middle linebacker for CovCath and ranks among the top students in his senior class. He achieved a perfect score on the ACT.
The winner of the “That’s My Boy” Award will be announced during the Greater Cincinnati Chapter of the National Football Foundation banquet on Feb. 27 at the original Montgomery Inn in Cincinnati.
Highlands girls win Region 5 bowling title
Highlands won the Region 5 bowling girls team title by defeating two-time defending champion Newport Central Catholic, 3-1, in the tournament final at Bellewood Lanes in Newport.
Both teams advance to the girls state tournament next week in Louisville. The Region 5 qualifiers for the girls singles state tournament are Kree Brewer and Maddie Marshall of Pendleton County, Abby Sargent of Campbell County and Riley Howell of Scott.
Brewer defeated Marshall, 204-152, in the girls region singles final to take the title for the second straight year. In the boys singles final, Kyan Brewer of Pendleton County defeated Tyler Blume of Simon Kenton, 223-185.
Pendleton County did not have enough bowlers to compete in the Region 5 girls team tournament. But the Wildcats won the boys team title with a coed lineup that came from behind to defeat Simon Kenton, 3-2, in the final.
The other Region 5 state qualifiers in boys singles were Joshua Hitt of Campbell County and Aiden Combs of NewCath. The winners in the Unified Team bracket were Jordan Ewers and Kyan Brewer for the second consecutive year.
The state high school bowling tournaments are scheduled for Monday (boys), Tuesday (girls) and Wednesday (unified) at Kingpin Lanes in Louisville.