By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
A reunion for former Covington Catholic tennis players is scheduled for Saturday after the current team’s home match against Louisville Manual and the program has a lot to celebrate.
Last season, the Colonels won the inaugural state tournament for boys tennis teams. That came a year after winning their first state championship under the previous format that awarded teams points for matches won in singles and doubles at the state tournament.
All but one of the CovCath tennis players who won matches in last year’s team tournament are back in the lineup. The Colonels lost No. 1 singles player Brady Hussey to graduation, but the team is off to a 6-0 start this season despite disruptions by adverse weather conditions.
To fill the vacancy at No. 1 singles, coach Al Hertsenberg separated the successful senior duo of Alex Yeager and Klei Christensen. They won the doubles title in the last two individual state tournaments and were undefeated during the team tournament last May.
“Alex Yeager has been training all year for singles,” Hertsenberg said. “He’s been playing in a lot of tournaments and taking a lot of lessons (during the off-season). He’s ready to do whatever, but he’s obviously our No. 1 player.”
Christensen’s new doubles partner is sophomore Blake Hussey, who played No. 2 singles behind his older bother last season. Christensen and Hussey have a 5-0 record together in early season matches with sophomores Will Tribble and Jacob Kramer at No. 2 doubles once again.
“We feel pretty good,” Hertsenberg said of his team. “It’s a good group. They work really hard. We’re really deep and have a lot of options.”
CovCath tennis teams have won two state and 24 region championships since Hertsenberg became head coach in 1991. The Colonels have also had three state champions in singles and two in doubles.
Classmates on rosters for basketball all-star games
Walton-Verona is the only high school that has senior basketball players on both the boys and girls rosters for the Ohio-Kentucky All-Star Games to be played Saturday at Thomas More University’s Connor Convocation Center.
The Kentucky boys roster includes Walton-Verona 6-foot-7 forward Aaron Gutman, who led Northern Kentucky in scoring with a 23.3 average and finished his high school career with a team-record 2,050 points.
His classmate on the Kentucky girls roster is 6-foot-2 forward Breylin Terrell, who averaged 14.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and shot 54.7 percent from the field for the Bearcats. Her career totals included 1,025 points and 841 rebounds.
Gutman was co-winner of the boys 8th Region Player of the Year. He has college scholarship offers from Georgetown and Union in Kentucky and Walsh in Ohio. Terrell was a first-team selection on the girls all-region team. She made a commitment with Grace College in Indiana.
Newport Central Catholic guard Caroline Eaglin is the other local player on the Kentucky girls roster. The boys roster includes Lloyd forward EJ Walker and Cooper guard Andy Johnson, the second leading scorer in the 9th Region with a 22.1 average.
Tipoff times for the Ohio-Kentucky All-Stars Games on Saturday are 5 p.m. for girls and 7 p.m. for boys. Admission will be charged at the door. There is no charge to attend the Slam Jam skills competition at 7 p.m Friday that includes slam dunk and 3-point shooting contests.
Holy Cross repeats as region softball champion
Holy Cross is the only local softball team that qualified for the All “A” Classic state tournament by winning the 9th Region championship for the second straight year.
The Indians defeated Beechwood, 5-4, in the region final two weeks ago and have a 6-3 record going into a game against Highlands on Wednesday. The All “A” Classic state tournament will be played April 26-27 at Jack Fisher Park in Owensboro.
At last year’s state tournament, Holy Cross had an 0-3 record in pool play and wasn’t among the eight teams that played in the single-elimination bracket that decided the champion.