By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Covington Catholic was voted the No. 1 team on every ballot in a preseason poll of Northern Kentucky boys basketball coaches and looks to win its first 9th Region championship since 2022.
The Colonels have three senior starters returning from last season when they lost in the 9th Region semifinals and finished with a 24-8 record. All three of them had double-figure scoring averages with shooting guard Athen McGillis providing 20.6 points per game followed by senior point guard Cash Harney at 15.8 and senior forward Donovan Bradshaw at 12.4.
The addition of transfer student Braeden Myrick puts another proven scorer in the CovCath lineup. The junior guard averaged 19.1 points per game for Mason County last season with 107 of his 202 field goals coming on 3-point shots.
The next four teams in the coaches poll were Holy Cross, Highlands, Conner and Ryle. Rounding out the top 10 are Campbell County, Simon Kenton, Lloyd, Dixie Heights and Beechwood.
The Cooper team that won last season’s 9th Region tournament and made it to the state quarterfinals has no starters returning.
McGillis was voted Northern Kentucky’s top player in the preseason poll. He recently made a verbal commitment with Nova Southeastern University in Florida, the team that won the 2025 NCAA Division II championship.
The list of top 10 players also included Lloyd senior guard Anthony Blackaar, Conner senior guard Finn Loudin, Harney, Campbell County forward Austin Davie, Holy Cross senior forward Nate Rominger, Ryle senior guard Anthony Coppola, Holy Cross senior guard Brady Gabbard, Highlands senior guard Vinny Listerman and Simon Kenton guard Braylon Bilton.
Girls basketball players make college commitments
Three local players selected for the Kentucky Junior All Stars basketball team last summer have made college commitments before the start of their senior season.
Ryle guard Jaelyn Jones accepted a college offer from Western Illinois University, an NCAA Division I program that competes in the Ohio Valley Conference. Last season, Jones was the third leading scorer in Northern Kentucky with an 18.2 average and had one of the state’s best free throw shooting percentages (86.6).
Notre Dame guard Emma Holtzapfel will contain her basketball career at Bellarmine University in Louisville and Simon Kenton post player Haylie Webb will stay closer to home at Thomas More University. Bellarmine is an NCAA Division I program and Thomas More competes on the Division II level.
Holtzapfel averaged a team-high 11.9 points on the Notre Dame team that was 9th Region runner-up last season. She made 90 3-point goals in 30 games for a 3.0 average that was seventh in statewide statistics.
Simon Kenton won the 8th Region championship last season with Webb averaging 9.4 points and 6.5 rebounds for the Pioneers. She began playing varsity basketball as an eighth-grader and enters her senior season with 954 points and 698 rebounds.
Ryle graduate resumes college basketball career at TCU
Ryle graduate Maddie Scherr is a starting guard on the Texas Christian University women’s basketball team that upset North Carolina State, 69-59, Sunday in a nationally televised game on ESPN.
Going into the game, TCU was No. 17 and NC State was No. 10 in the NCAA Division I coaches rankings. The upset snapped NC State’s 24-game win streak on its home court.
Scherr scored all four of her points during her team’s 15-5 run in the opening minutes. She also finished with four rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot for the Horned Frogs, who are off to a 4-0 start.
After sitting out last season due to a back injury, Scherr is averaging 8.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists after four games. She played two seasons at Oregon and two seasons at Kentucky before joining the TCU team as a graduate student.
In high school, Scherr was named Gatorade Kentucky Player of the Year in 2019 and 2020 and Miss Kentucky Basketball after her senior season in 2020. She was floor leader on the Ryle team that won the 2019 state championship.