By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter
It should be no surprise that, in this year when there are more teams – five, maybe even six – you can say have something of a shot at emerging from the Ninth Region Boys’ Basketball Tournament with a ticket to the Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena, there are more good guards than we can remember at one time here.
That’s how the game is played. Can’t be a good team without a good guard – or two – or in Conner’s case, four. There is a correlation.
And it goes way beyond our pair of top-five players in Kentucky this season – Holy Cross’ Jacob Meyer, leading scorer in the state and the Ninth Region’s all-time career scorer and Covington Catholic’s Evan Ipsaro – who will almost certainly be the starting guard duo for Kentucky in the June all-star series against Indiana.
Although with every rule like “It’s a guards’ game,” there is an exception, as St. Henry (13-12) proved Thursday night with its 26-point second-half comeback for an amazing 90-86 win over Holy Cross (21-7).
Sure, Holy Cross’ Meyer did what he does, as the state’s leading scorer and all-time career scorer in the Ninth Region, scoring 47 points for the second-ranked Indians.
But there’s a reason St. Henry Coach Dave Faust was able to add one more into his career-record Ninth Region win total – and it was a front line of Matt Resing and Braden Fedders, who each had 29 points and Jack Grayson, who added 11. That’s 69 points for the three non-guard Crusaders and that will win you a bunch of ball games if your guards can get the ball to them.
But we digress. And we remind you not to be blinded by the numbers from Meyer (36.8 points a game) and Ipsaro (25.4). Or their free throw numbers with Ipsaro converting 86.2 percent from the line and Meyer, 82.2. Both can pass it and rebound it and run and jump with the big boys.
It’s no surprise their teams are ranked 1-2 in the region but with a bunch of teams snapping at their heels. Right behind them is Lloyd Memorial’s 6-foot-3 senior guard Jeremiah Israel (21.9 points, 84.3 percent from the line), an early signee with NKU. Along with fellow Division I player, sophomore EJ Walker, he makes the Juggernauts a threat in every game, as they were indeed, Friday in knocking off visiting Conner, 48-45, in a battle of two district No. 1 seeds we could well see again in two weeks in the regional.
We mentioned Conner’s four senior guards for an 18-7 Cougar team as dangerous as any up here. They are: Landen Hamilton (17.7 ppg, 70.4 percent from the line, 37.7 from three), Dalton Kramer (15.2, 80.7 from the line), Ayden Lohr (14.6, 73.5 from the line, 42.3 from three), and Daniel Campbell (12.8, 80.8 from the line).
As for No. 1 CovCath, the Colonels (23-4) have a three-guard attack with Brady Hussey (12.8 ppg) and Kascyl McGillis (11.8) scoring from the perimeter while Ipsaro drives it to the glass.
Newport’s young Wildcats have a couple of inside players in 6-4 senior Marquez Miller and 6-6 freshman Patrick Turner but the Wildcats (22-6) get it going from the guard spots where freshman Taylen Kinney (14.7 ppg) and sophomore Jabari Covington (12.8) are players to watch the next couple of seasons, as well as this postseason.
For Highlands (21-8), whose 77.1 points a game is fifth in the state and behind only No. 2 Holy Cross’ 79.3 average, 6-2 perimeter player William Herald leads the way with 18.8 points a game with 4.1 three-pointers a game.
Then there are the guards who are doing it without as much help. Ludlow’s Jaxson Rice, the football-basketball combo star is sixth in the state in scoring with a 30.1 average.
Then there’s a Beechwood team (10-17) with a couple of two-sport guys at guard. Cameron Boyd, with that pure jump shot much like his state-leading home run swing, has him averaging 20.2 points a game with an 86.1 free throw average. Freshman stand-in varsity quarterback Cash Harney is at 15.6 points a game for the Tigers who had the bad luck to draw Holy Cross in the district opener at CovCath.
Newport Central Catholic’s Coby Kramer is scoring at 17.7 a game for the undermanned Breds (10-18) right now.
Another young guy to keep your eye on is Cooper sophomore Yamil Rondon, the only double-figure scorer for the 14-12 Jaguars at 12.8 ppg. He’s a battler.
And we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Campbell County’s Ayden Hamilton, even though the 19-11 Camels have been in the 10th Region for more than two decades now. The 6-3 soon-to-be shortstop for the University of Kentucky is hitting for 22.8 points a game as the Camel’s all-time leading career scorer and he makes them a threat in any 10th Region game the guys from Alexandria play.
So have at it, starting with the districts next week, now that you know where to look. Watch the guards. This year they’re the ones getting it done.
Almost everybody who will be still standing in Week 2 at the Ninth Region tourney at NKU’s Truist Arena will be there because their guards drove the bus to Highland Heights.