By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
C.J. Fredrick, the leading scorer on the Covington Catholic boys’ basketball team, injured his foot earlier this week and remained at home when the Colonels went to play in the Skyline Classic in New Jersey.
CovCath coach Scott Ruthsatz does not know how long the 6-foot-4 junior forward will be out of action. “I believe he is being re-examined (Thursday) and should know more at that time,” Ruthsatz said in a text message from New Jersey.
Fredrick averaged 21.9 points in the Colonels’ first 11 games this season. He was shooting 58.7 percent (88 for 150) from the field overall and 49.1 percent (28 of 57) from behind the 3-point line when he injured his foot in practice.
CovCath won its first game at the Skyline Classic in New Jersey without Fredrick. The Colonels shot 64 percent from the field and defeated Pope John XXIII from Sparta, N.J., 56-41, on Tuesday.
In that game, CovCath senior guard Cole VonHandorf scored a game-high 23 points and junior point guard Aiden Ruthsatz, who missed five games earlier this month with a wrist injury, had 11 points and seven assists.
The Colonels will take a 10-2 record and three-game winning streak into their game against St. Augustine of Richland, N.J., on Thursday. They’ll return home after that and hope to have Fredrick back in time for several big games in January.
One of those games is a rematch with Newport Central Catholic, the team that defeated CovCath in last year’s 9th Region final, on Jan. 13 at BB&T Arena. Five days later, Cooper will visit CovCath on Jan 18 in a showdown between the top two teams in the Northern Kentucky preseason coaches poll.
Football players Hendrix, Barnes voted first-team all-state
Cooper senior wide receiver Dante Hendrix and Holy Cross senior linebacker Derrick Barnes are the Northern Kentucky football players voted first-team all-state on offense and defense in a statewide coaches poll conducted by the Courier-Journal newspaper.
Hendrix, caught 70 passes for 1,396 yards and 20 touchdowns this season to finish among the state leaders in all three categories. It was the second consecutive year that the Indiana State University recruit surpassed 1,000 yards in receptions.
Barnes, a Toledo University recruit, had 126 tackles this season and scored 18 points playing defense by returning one fumble recovery and two interceptions for touchdowns. He totaled 155 tackles in his two-year varsity career with the Indians.
The statewide coaches poll received 105 ballots and voting points decided the top 12 players on offense and defense. Other players were named second-team and third-team all-state according to the voting points they received.
Simon Kenton senior linebacker Brian Carter was voted second-team all-state on defense. Ryle senior quarterback Tanner Morgan and Covington Catholic senior tackle Hunter Ziegelmeyer were voted third-team all-state on offense.
Phillip Haywood of Belfry was voted Coach of the Year in the poll. His team won the Class 3A state title. Mike Engler of Ryle was voted Class 6A Coach of the Year for leading the Raiders to a best-ever 12-1 record.
Highlands grad makes big plays in college football bowl game
Highlands graduate Patrick Towles became the first Atlantic Coast Conference football player to throw and catch a touchdown pass in the same bowl game since 2003 at the Quick Lane Bowl on Monday at Ford Field in Detroit.
Playing quarterback for Boston College, Towles threw two touchdown passes and caught a 20-yard TD pass from wide receiver Jeff Smith on a trick play during the second quarter of his team’s 36-30 win over Maryland.
It was Boston College’s first bowl victory since 2007. Towels joined the team as a graduate student this year after playing 28 games in three seasons for the University of Kentucky.