By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Sarah Young, a first-year starter on the Notre Dame girls basketball team that won the 9th Region championship, was selected to the Kentucky Junior All-Stars team that will play against Indiana’s top juniors on May 31.
A 6-foot-2 post player, Young averaged 10 points and 9.1 rebounds for the Pandas. She shot 48.1 percent (129 of 268) from the field overall and 36 percent (32 of 89) from behind the 3-point line. In two state tournament games, Young totaled 24 points and 20 rebounds and shot 60 percent (9 of 15) with four threes.
The other local players on the Kentucky Junior All-Stars team will be guards Haylee Noel of Cooper and Brynli Pernell of Simon Kenton, the 8th Region champion that made it to the state tournament semifinals.
Pernell averaged a team-high 17.5 points and was named to the state all-tournament team. Noel finished among the top 25 scorers in the state with a 20.4 average. She also posted the state’s fifth highest free throw percentage at 88.0, followed by Pernell at 87.4.
Braeden Myrick of Covington Catholic was named to the Kentucky Junior All-Stars boys team. He averaged 17 points and shot 54.2 percent (205 of 328) from the field with 106 3-point goals for the Colonels, who won the 9th Region boys tournament.
The local girls named to the Kentucky Senior All-Stars team were Emma Holtzapfel of Notre Dame, Jaelyn Jones of Ryle and Haylie Webb of Simon Kenton. The boys senior roster will include Athens McGillis of CovCath, who ranks second among the Colonels’ all-time leading scorers with 2,015 points.
The Kentucky-Indiana All-Star Games for juniors will be Sunday, May 31 at Charleston High School in Indiana. The seniors will play girls-boys double-headers on Friday, June 5 at Lexington Catholic High School and Saturday, June 6 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Tennis coach organizes tournament for small schools
Tennis is not among the sports included in the All “A” Classic statewide tournaments, so a coach decided to organize one for players at local small-school teams.
Holy Cross coach Ralph Arlinghaus put together the 9th Region All “A” Tennis Tournament that was held last weekend on the courts at Covington Catholic High School. The winners in boys and girls singles and doubles were crowned on Sunday.
“The tournament showcased the depth of talent in Northern Kentucky with athletes competing at a high level throughout the weekend,” Arlinghaus said. “We appreciate the dedication of our student-athletes, coaches and volunteers who made this tournament a success.”
The champions in boys and girls singles were Shayaan Ahmad of Villa Madonna and Emma Ahlers of Beechwood. In doubles, Neil Reddy and Andrew Dunaway of Beechwood won the boys tournament with Lily Middendorf and Hailey Ryan of Newport Central Catholic taking the girls title.
CovCath grad raises average on Xavier baseball team
Covington Catholic graduate Jonathan Fitz got 14 hits in the last 10 games for the Xavier University baseball team to raise his season batting average from .250 to .283 with 15 games remaining on the schedule.
Fitz is the starting catcher for the 19-22 Musketeers. He has a .383 on-base percentage that includes 36 hits in 127 at-bats and 18 walks. In last week’s game against Cincinnati, he hit his fourth home run and had a season-high four RBI.
This is Fitz’s first season at Xavier. He played the last two seasons for the University of San Diego that recruited him when he was in high school. He hit .511 in his senior season at CovCath and received the Johnny Bench Award as the state’s best catcher.