By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Taking charge of the Cooper High School girls basketball program was a bold career move for Christian Prohaska, who was hired as head coach of the Jaguars in June.
She spent the last 14 years as an assistant coach on the college level. Now she’ll be leading a premier high school team that has won an unprecedented four consecutive 9th Region championships to achieve statewide attention.
“I’m excited to build on that legacy, compete for championships and invest in the growth of our players both on and off the court,” Prohaska said when she got the job.
Cooper was voted No. 1 in a preseason poll of Northern Kentucky coaches because the Jaguars have four starters returning from last season’s 26-6 team that made it to the quarterfinals of the state tournament.
The veteran players include senior point guard Addyson Brissey and junior guard Haylee Noel, who had team-high averages of 16.4 points and 7.5 rebounds.
“Haylee Noel is one of the top players in the state,” Prohaska said of the Division I recruiting prospect. “Addyson Brissey had a great summer and is going to have a dynamic year.”
Lyrick Hooper, Alivia Scott and Brinkli Rankin are guards who played in 30 or more games last season. Scott shot 40.5 percent from behind the 3-point line and averaged 8.0 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
Here’s a rundown of the other teams voted among the top 10 in the Northern Kentucky preseason coaches poll:
2. Simon Kenton Pioneers
Expectations are high for Simon Kenton’s team with all five starters returning from a 26-5 season when they upset perennial state power Louisville Sacred Heart and won the 8th Region championship.
“This group has developed strong chemistry, allowing them to play cohesively and compete at a high level,” said coach Jeff Stowers.
The group includes four seniors — point guard Brynli Pernell, forwards Haylie Webb and Megan Gadzalla and guard Anna Kelch — along with sophomore guard Bella Ober.
Pernell averaged a team-high 14.7 points as the team’s floor leader while Webb contributed 9.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. They also played key roles on defense as the Pioneers limited opponents to 38.7 points per game.
3. Notre Dame Pandas
George Stoll, the new head coach of the Pandas, takes over a team that made it to the 9th Region final and posted a 22-9 record last season with three underclassmen among the top five scorers.
One of the returnees is senior guard Emma Holtzapfel, a Bellarmine University recruit. She averaged a team-high 11.9 points and made 90 3-point goals in 30 games for a 3.0 average that was seventh in final statewide statistics.
Amelia Stallard and Joslyn LaBordeaux-Humphreys will rejoin Holtzapfel in the Pandas’ lineup. They averaged 7.9 and 5.7 points last season.
“I feel like one of our biggest strengths this year is our balance,” Stoll said. “We have some guards who can shoot it. We have some guards who can get to the rim. We have a couple girls who can play effectively in the post.”
4. Campbell County Camels
With a solid group of returning players, Campbell County will once again rely on the uptempo style of play that carried last year’s team to an 18-10 record.
Senior wing Isabella Jayasuriya finished with team-high averages of 14.5 points and 7.8 rebounds. She’s a “crafty player” who can score in many different ways, according to coach Davey Johnson.
The other senior veterans are Madeleine Barbian and Faith Whitford, who usually guards the best player on the opposing team.
The Camels also have a pair of experienced backcourt players in point guard Addie Davis and shooting guard Kendal Augsback, who averaged 10.4 points as a freshman when the Camels averaged 8.3 treys per game.
5. Highlands Bluebirds
The Bluebirds will have a new game plan after graduating a pair of 6-foot-3 low-post players who provided 21.3 points and 14.6 rebounds per game for last year’s 22-9 team.
“We lost all of our height, but we are a very athletic team that will need to use our quickness to our advantage,” said coach Jaime Walz Richey.
The top returning players are sophomore shooting guard Maren Orme and senior point guard Kaylee Mills, who averaged 10.8 and 8.3 points per game. They were also the team leaders in 3-point goals with a combined total of 90.
The other senior veterans on the roster are forwards Katie Bucher and Avery Barber, who both pulled down four rebounds per game last season when the Bluebirds made it to the 9th Region semifinals.
6. Dixie Heights Colonels
Joel Steczynski enters his 10th season as Dixie Heights coach needing four wins to reach the 200 mark, but not having senior forward Coralee Pelfrey due to an off-season knee injury doesn’t help.
That leaves junior point guard Asia Carner as the only returning starter. She averaged 11.1 points and 3.8 assists on last year’s 21-9 team.
The coach describes Carter as “a shifty guard that plays both sides of the ball as well as any guard in Northern Kentucky.”
The Colonels’ top returning senior is 5-foot-10 guard Aubrey Elkins, who averaged 5.2 points and shot 45 percent from the field. Sophomore guard Peyton Gibson has “great instincts” that will allow her to contribute in a big way, according to Steczynski.
7. Ryle Raiders
The young team that Ryle coach Katie Haitz put on the court last season finished 9-23, breaking the program’s eight-year string of posting 21 wins or more.
Haitz expects those players to vindicate themselves behind the leadership of senior Jaelyn Jones, a Western Illinois University recruit who averaged 18.2 points and had one of the state’s best free throw shooting percentages at 86.6.
The Raiders also have one of the state’s top freshmen in 6-foot-6 forward Jayden McClain, who averaged 10.2 points, 8.8 rebounds and 4.0 blocks in her debut as a varsity starter that drew attention from college recruiters.
The other freshmen who got a lot of playing time last season are guards Emerson Dowell and Layne Hampton. They had combined averages of 11.8 and 5.0 rebounds per game.
8. Brossart Mustangs
Going into his first season as Brossart’s head coach, Aaron Stamm has three of the top five players back from a 26-8 team that won the 10th Region All ”A” Classic and made it to the post-season region tournament final.
“I like our experience and feel our younger kids are ready to step into varsity minutes,” Stamm said.
Kylie Smith is a 5-foot-10 sophomore who had team-high averages of 14.6 points and 6.4 rebounds while shooting 51.9 percent from the field and 79.1 percent from the line.
The other varsity veterans are 5-foot-11 senior Rachel Shewmaker and junior guard Greylee Kramer. They had a combined scoring average of 14.8 points last season. Leading candidates to fill the other starting positions are center Hadley Eviston and point guard Lilee Meyers.
9. Holy Cross Indians
With three returning starters, Holy Cross has a good chance to continue its four-year reign as 9th Region All “A” Classic champion and extend its 12-year run of 9th Region post-season tournament appearances.
Junior forward D’Myah Williams and junior guard Alyssa Arlinghaus both averaged 10 points per game on last season’s 25-8 team. Sophomore guard Jai Johnson is a dynamic defender who creates transition baskets.
Williams is being recruited by NCAA Division I college teams. Coach Ted Arlinghaus said she is “quite possibly the most athletic player, not only in the 9th Region, but quite possibly in the state.”
10. Conner Cougars
The top player returning for the Cougars is 5-foot-10 senior Izalee Kerns, who averaged 12.5 points and 6.2 rebounds for last year’s 9-19 team.
Coach Michelle Gambrel is moving sophomore Kayci Covelle to point guard and expects freshmen Rhy Everett to improve on the 7.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game she provided last year.
Gambrel plans to have two seniors, four sophomores, a freshman and seventh-grader in her rotation to start the season. She expects them to be “ready for the challenge” when tournament time rolls around.