Big improvement for both NKU teams in Horizon hoops
With four wins in the last five games, the NKU men’s basketball team has climbed to No. 4 in the 11-team Horizon League with a 5-3 league mark and 13-6 overall. NKU could have jumped into the second spot with a win Sunday at No. 2 Green Bay, but NKU fell behind, 51-35, in the first half against a hot-shooting Green Bay team that finished with 57.7 percent shooting for the game. The Norse came close thanks to a three-turnover performance, just the fourth time that’s happened this year in the nation, but fell short by two, 80-78, after a big second-half comeback. Coming off the bench in both games, as he has all year, Donovan Oday fired in 52 points on the road trip to Milwaukee (an 85-67 win) and Green Bay, where he hit for 31. Oday leads the nation in points scored (327) with four or fewer starts. New Zealand native Kael Robinson posted a career high at Milwaukee with 29 points.
The NKU men return home this week for a pair of league games — Thursday against IU Indy at 7 p.m. and Saturday against Robert Morris, also at 7.
NKU women win 5th straight: While the NKU men couldn’t make it to five straight wins, Jeff Hans’ women’s team did, after an extremely difficult 4-11 start this season with a matching five-game losing streak that has them all the way up to third in the Horizon at 5-3 (8-11 overall). The Norse seem to be just hitting their stride, winning 81-76 Saturday at Robert Morris, as Karina Bystry knocked down 24 points with 13 free throws while grabbing six rebounds and handing out four assists as NKU outrebounded an opponent for the 10th straight game.
With its first five-game win streak since 2022, NKU returns to action Wednesday at Truist Arena at 7 against Milwaukee followed by a 2 p.m. Saturday game against Wright State.
TMU’s 13-1 women winning close ones, Saints’ men not so fortunate: With a pair of close home conference wins, 71-70, over Northwood and 69-65 over Hillsdale, the Thomas More women improved to 13-1 overall on the season and are No. 2 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference with a 5-1 GMAC record. Senior Rylee Turner led TMU with 21 points against Hillsdale while junior Izzy Rotert and senior Sereniti Webb each had 16 to lead the way against Northwood.
The TMU women head to Ohio this week with games in Columbus against Ohio Dominican Wednesday (5:30) and in Canton Saturday (1 p.m.) against Malone.
TMU men keep coming close: For the fifth time in the last seven games, the Saints’ men found themselves in a game decided by four or fewer points Saturday, losing 54-51 to Hillsdale at home. That loss — the fourth loss out of those five close games — drops the TMU men to 8-6 overall and just 2-5 and 10th in the GMAC. Saturday’s loss was another case of NKU just not able to hit from long range, making just five of 19 (26.7 percent) from behind the arc. Kai Simpson led NKU with 22 points, but he was one of only two (Colin McHale with 10 the other) in double digits.
Like the women, the NKU men hit the road this week with a pair of Ohio games — Thursday at Ohio Dominican in Columbus and then Saturday (3 p.m.) in a doubleheader with the women at Malone in Canton.
NewCath’s 25th Athletic Hall of Fame Class ceremony Feb. 21
For the school’s 25th Athletic Hall of Fame Class, Newport Central Catholic will install Tom Freppon, Jr. ’83, Christy Hater Eby ’88, Marc Hennessy ’75, Nikki Kiernan ’14, Chris Meyer ’00, Larry Staverman ’54 (posthumously) and Matt Wagenlander ’03 along with the “Team of Distinction” — the 2012 Class 2A Football State Champion Team.
Additionally, NewCath will award the Coach Jim Connor Award to Ernie Liggett, ’63, and the Fr. John Hegenauer Community Service Award to Joe Koehling.
The induction ceremony will be Saturday, February 21, in the NewCath Gymnasium with a 6 p.m. social hour followed by the 7 p.m. dinner and the induction ceremony. Cost is $30.00, with reservations and payment accepted prior to February 6 in the form of cash, check, credit card, Venmo @NewCath or online at ncchs.com. For more information contact the NCC School Office at 859-292-0001.
NKSHOF inducts 1st 2026 class Jan. 21
Here are the six new inductees in the first class for 2026 for the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame: Bishop Brossart’s Dave Scheibly for his work as a basketball referee and golf guy; Covington Catholic alum Michael Bosch for his announcing multiple sports at St. Pius and Notre Dame Academy sports events; Newport Central Catholic’s Dennis Menning, a champion trapshooter and coach; Beechwood and Thomas More’s Harry “Stretch” for basketball; CovCath and University of Louisville’s Matthew Berger for baseball; and Conner and Penn State football player and later coach, Pat Pidgeon. The inductions will be Wednesday, Jan. 21, at The Gardens of Park Hills at 1 p.m.. The public is invited. There is no charge.
Player of the Year here is pretty clear
Covington Catholic coach Jake Thelen said it and there’s no thought here of disagreeing. He called his 6-foot senior guard and four-year starter Athens McGillis “the best player in the Ninth Region” and as McGillis’ 30 points in three quarters against Beechwood Friday made clear, Thelen has it right.
Heading for defending NCAA Division II national champion Nova Southeastern next year, McGillis can shoot it better than any point guard playing for any of Greater Cincinnati’s Division I programs right now and could probably help all of them — NKU, Xavier and Cincinnati — this year. He’s fun to watch with the range of his rainbow threes. Catch him if you get a chance this season.
Making it right
Should have caught this earlier after Friday night’s CovCath-Beechwood game but we shortchanged the Tigers’ Dylan Topmiller by eight points in the game story and the box score. The CovCath folks got it wrong, they said, and after going over the film, they updated the final official box score. But since the Colonel stat people have done the most thorough and conscientious job of keeping and providing instantaneous accurate stats for basketball and football games, they get a pass here.
What they did is they credited Beechwood’s Quentin Knasel with eight of the sophomore Topmiller’s 16 points which now drops the senior Knasel to 16 points, same as Topmiller had. We want to make note of this because you’d better keep your eye on the 6-foot-2 Topmiller, not even shaving yet at the age of 15, but with the kind of all-around game that might have him as a 6-foot-4 ballhandling guard who can really shoot it by the time he’s a senior and a big-time college prospect. Not a lot of those around. He handled the constant pressure and physicality of the CovCath defense really well. Stayed within his game and just kept playing without showing any frustration and when you’re averaging 19.9 points a game coming into Friday, that’s not always an easy thing to do.
Look for Topmiller and CovCath junior Braeden Myrick, a slim 6-4 shooter who can pass it with an all-floor game. to be at the top of the battle next year for player of the year in the Ninth Region, succeeding CovCath’s McGillis.
Here’s the corrected box score:
SCORING SUMMARY
Beechwood Tigers 13 9 11 12 — 45
Covington Catholic Colonels 19 29 18 8 – 74
Beechwood (10-4): Brockett 0/2 0/1 0/1 0/0 0, Knasel 6/11 5/8 1/3 3/5 16, Coppage 1/7 1/4 0/3 0/0 2 0, Yeager 1/1 1/1 0/0 1/2 2, Stiles 0/4 0/4 0/0 1/2 1, Wilson 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/0 0, Smith 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/0 0, Topmiller 6/10 4/6 2/4 2/3 16, Moore 3/7 2/3 1/4 0/0 7; Totals 17/42 13/27 4/15 7/12 45.
Covington Catholic (13-1): McGillis 10/14 4/6 6/8 4/7 30, Harney 5/9 5/7 0/2 1/1 11, Gaiser 1/1 1/1 0/0 1/2 3, Bradshaw 4/6 3/5 1/1 3/4 12, Bode 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/0 0, Myrick 4/8 2/4 2/4 2/2 12, Courtney 1/1 1/1 0/0 0/0 2, Myers 0/3 0/3 0/0 0/0 0, Stava 2/2 2/2 0/0 0/0 4, Hoyt 0/1 0/1 0/0 0/0 0, Brecount 0/1 0/1 0/0 0/0 0; Totals 27/46 18/31 9/15 11/16 74.
Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him on X @dweber3440.