By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Northern Kentucky high school basketball teams have scheduled a road trip that will take them back in time this weekend when they will play games at Hoosier Gym in Knightsville, Indiana.
The historic gym looks the same as it did when Knightsville High School played its last home game there in 1966 and was the filming location for much of the 1986 movie “Hoosiers” about a rural Indiana high school basketball team that wins a state championship.
Fans at the games will also be able to visit the museum and gift shop in the gym, which has become an Indiana tourist attraction due to the popularity of the movie.
The Newport Central Catholic boys team has games against Central Hardin at 6 p.m. Friday and Bardstown Bethlehem at 10 a.m. Saturday in Hoosier Gym.
The Saturday schedule also includes Holy Cross vs. Walton-Verona girls at 4 p.m. and Holy Cross vs. Walton-Verona boys at 6 p.m.
The Holy Cross girls team has a 21-5 record and was voted No. 7 in the latest statewide media poll after winning the Kentucky All “A” Classic state championship game on Sunday.
The Holy Cross boys team was runner-up in the Kentucky All “A” Classic boys state tournament and ran its record to 16-6 behind a record-setting scoring performance by senior guard Jacob Meyer.
Meyer set tournament records for most total points (157) and most points in a single game (49) to raise his state-leading season average to 34.7 going into a district seeding game against Beechwood on Friday.
His career scoring total now stands at 3,041. The only 9th Region boys basketball players who posted higher career totals were Brandon Hatton of Dixie Heights (3,045) and Scotty Draud of Beechwood (3,128).
Scott’s new head football coach built winning programs in Florida
Scott football players and their parents will get a chance to meet new head coach Jake Owens during a ceremony scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday at the high school.
Owens was head coach at Palm Bay Magnet High School in Florida the last two years. His team posted an 8-4 record last season after finishing 4-6 in 2021. He was also head coach at Space Coast High School in Florida and led the 2013 team to a 7-4 record and an appearance in the state playoffs.
Owens will be taking charge of a Scott team that compiled a 21-22 record over the last four years under coach Eric Turner. Five of the losses came during the 2020 season that was disrupted by the pandemic. The Eagles finished 8-5 in 2019 and 2021 and last year’s team was 4-7.
A statewide realignment of football teams moved Scott from Class 4A to Class 5A for the next two seasons. The Eagles will compete in a new Class 4A district that includes Boone County, Conner, Cooper, Dixie Heights and Highlands.
Campbell County senior surpasses 2,000 mark in career points
Senior guard Ayden Hamilton became the second Campbell County boys basketball player to surpass the 2,000 mark in career points on Monday when he scored 29 in an 85-82 loss to Covington Catholic in overtime.
Hamilton, who will attend the University of Kentucky on a baseball scholarship, has netted 2,018 points during his varsity career. The other Campbell County player who had more than 2,000 points was Kevin Reinhardt, a 2002 graduate who went on play at Northern Kentucky University and Georgetown College.
As an eighth-grader, Hamilton scored 19 points in 15 games. He has been in the Camels’ starting lineup since he was a freshman and has 1,999 points in 115 games for a 17.4 average. He averaged 12.6 points as a freshman, 16.1 as a sophomore, 19.6 as a junior and is up to 23.2 this season.
This season, his 23.2 average is second in the 10th Region and among the top 25 in the state. He’s also averaging a team-high 6.4 rebounds while shooting 44.8 percent (186 of 415) from the field and 76.8 percent (136 of 177) from the free throw line.
The Hoosier gym is in KnightsTOWN, In. Don’t get lost!