B2
BCR Recorder
December 3, 2009
Boys hoops preview
Cougars return deep, balanced team
Senior Jake Hils returns as starting point guard for St. Henry.
FILE PHOTO
Crusaders look to repeat district title By James Weber jweber@nky.com
Dave Faust returns for his 18th season as the St. Henry High School head boys’ basketball coach with a 272-204 record. His team went 15-12 last year and was 34th District champions in its first year in that alignment. St. Henry lost to Highlands in the Ninth Region quarterfinals. The Crusaders return three veteran seniors. Guard Ryan Anderson is athletic and a hard worker. He was a part-time starter last year. Ben Bessler, a tall, athletic forward, is the top returning scorer and rebounder on
the team with eight points and four boards a contest. He is a two-time state champion in the high jump and also a starter for the state champion cross country team. Senior Jake Hils returns as starting point guard. He averaged four assists a game. “I think we will have to get the ball up and down the court,” Faust said. “This is the smallest team that I have had at St. Henry. We will have to be fundamentally sound to make up for lack of height.” The Crusaders open the season Dec. 2 at Brossart and debuts at home Dec. 8 against Highlands.
By James Weber
The Conner High School boys’ basketball team returns three starters from last year’s 13-15 team that lost a two-point heartbreaker to Ryle in the 33rd District Tournament. Aaron Stephens, a 6foot-3 senior guard, is the top returning scorer, averaging 8.2 points, 3.2 assists and two steals per game last year. Clay Robinson, a 6-6 junior center, posted seven points and four rebounds a contest and shot 49 percent from the floor. Junior guard Jordan Liechty averaged seven points and shot 46 percent from three-point land. Tyler Hodges, a 6-8 junior center, averaged three blocks a game.
All games are 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
Game days
Dec. 2 @ Brossart Dec. 4 @ Covington Catholic Dec. 8 Highlands Dec. 10 @ Holmes Dec. 13 vs. Little Miami – 1 p.m. at NKU Dec. 18 @ Williamstown Dec. 21-23 Carroll Co. tourney Dec. 30 @ Dixie Heights – 7 p.m. Jan. 4 @ Lloyd Jan. 5 Cooper Jan. 7 @ Conner Jan. 14 Boone Co. Jan. 15 Villa Madonna Jan. 18-23 All “A” regional Jan. 28 Bellevue Jan. 29 Dayton Feb. 3 @ Newport Catholic Feb. 5 @ Newport Feb. 13 Ludlow – 6:30 p.m. Feb. 16 Campbell County Feb. 18 Holy Cross
On the team
Name Ryan Anderson Ben Bessler Brian Carroll Will Gulla Jake Hils Tyler Jordan Danny Seifried Alex Thorburn Louie Tobergte Zach Barnett Alec Beeghly Jon Fox Jake Goetz John Patula Zach Dedden Alan Gripshover Connor McLaughlin Brandon Schwarte Jeff Wischer Darius Meiman
YearPos. 12 G 12 F 12 F 12 G 12 G 12 G 12 F 12 F 12 G 11 G 11 F 11 G 11 G 11 F 10 F 10 F 10 G 10 F 10 G 9 G
Game days
Dec. 2 @ Dixie Heights Dec. 4 Cooper Dec. 8 @ Simon Kenton Dec. 11 Boone County Dec. 12 @ Beechwood Dec. 15 Covington Catholic Dec. 18 Ryle Dec. 27-30 Lloyd tournament Jan. 5 @ Newport Jan. 7 St. Henry Jan. 8 Montgomery Co. – 8 p.m. Jan. 11-16 Kenton Co. Classic Jan. 21 @ Ryle Jan. 23 @ Bell Co. – 3 p.m. Jan. 25 @ Cooper Jan. 28 @ Boone County Jan. 30 Highlands – 3:30 Feb. 2 @ Campbell Co. Feb. 5 Scott Feb. 9 Walton-Verona Feb. 13 Holy Cross – 4:30 p.m. Feb. 16 Holmes Feb. 19 @ Newport Catholic Junior guard Jacob Flesch is also a top starting con-
All games are 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
On the team
Name Jalen Abdon Carter Byrns Adam Dunn Brandon Ernstes Jacob Flesch Tyler Hodges Cody Huff Bryan Koors Tim Lang Jordan Liechty Taylor Miller Damien Plumlee Tyler Remley Craig Richardson Clay Robinson Brennon Russell Aaron Stephens Austin Way Trevor Jarvis
Year Pos. 10 G 10 G 10 G 11 F 11 G 11 C 10 G 10 G 12 G 11 G 11 G 11 G 11 C 10 F 11 F/C 12 F 12 G 11 G 12 G
tender. “I really like our team
FILE PHOTO
Senior guard Aaron Stephens is the top returning scorer for Conner High School this year. chemistry,” said Jim Hicks, entering his seventh season as Conner head coach. “The work ethic with this team is very impressive. We return a large amount of experience and that will help a lot. The overall speed of the team is very good.”
Jaguars build program in 2nd season By James Weber jweber@nky.com
St. Henry boys
Conner boys
jweber@nky.com
The Cooper High School Jaguars boys’ basketball team won just two games in its first year as a program, but one of them was a buzzer-beating win over Heritage in the 33rd District Tournament. Cooper returns four starters as they look to build the program. Junior guard D’Vontae Bradley takes his football running prowess back to the court after averaging 10 points and six rebounds a game last season. Junior guard Ryan Thompson posted six points and four assists a game. Senior forward Tyler Ramey averaged nine points and five boards, and senior forward Matthew Storey posted seven points and three rebounds. The top newcomers are junior guard Asiel Langley, sophomore forward Alex “Bubby” Webster and 6foot-6 freshman forward Louis Maniacci. “With an offseason in the weight room and playing together the Jaguars
look to find their swagger,” head coach Tim Sullivan said. “With only two seniors the Jaguars will look to their underclassmen for support in building the program. The Jaguars will look to compete in every game they play expecting to pick up some wins along the way,” he said. Cooper opened at home Dec. 1 and plays at Conner Dec. 4 and at home against Ryle Dec. 8 in early district previews.
FILE PHOTO
Junior guard Ryan Thompson (20, right) is one of Cooper High School’s top returning players.
Cooper boys No. 4 5 10 14 20 21 22 23 24 25 31 32 33 40 42
44 Louis Maniacci
On the team
Name Year Pos. Ryan Thompson 11 G Asiel Langley 11 G Chris Henderson 10 G Ryan Klute 11 G Cody Cook 10 G Brandon Knapmeyer10 G Seth Quinlan 11 F John Patrick Williams10 F D’vontae Bradley 11 G Tyler Ramey 12 F Austin Collins 9 G Matthew Storey 12 G/F David Prescott 10 F Alex Webster 10 F Alex Giesey 10 F
9
F
Game days
Dec. 1 Walton-Verona Dec. 4 @ Conner Dec. 8 Ryle Dec. 12 @ Holy Cross Dec. 19 @ Elliot Co. – 3:45 p.m. Dec. 20 @ Raceland – 3:45 p.m. Dec. 21 @ Ashland Blazer – 3:45 p.m. Dec. 22 @ Raceland Derby Classic – TBA Dec. 27 @ Bryan Station – 4:30 p.m. Dec. 28, 29, 30 @ Lloyd Holiday Tournament – TBA Jan. 2 Covington Catholic
Jan. 5 @ St. Henry Jan. 7 Campbell County Jan. 9 Pendleton Co. Jan. 12 @ Brossart Jan. 16 @ Grant Co. – 6 p.m. Jan. 19 @ Ryle Jan. 21 Boone County Jan. 23 @ North Laurel – TBA Jan. 25 Conner Jan. 28 Holmes Feb. 2 @ Simon Kenton Feb. 5 @ Boone Co. Feb. 8 @ Carroll Co. Feb. 12 Deming Feb. 16 @ Dixie Heights Feb. 19 Scott All games are 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
Eagles return 5 seniors in ’09
$1 Domestic Drafts • FREE POOL!
Happy Hour
1PM - 7PM $1 Off All Mixed Drinks $1 Off All Appetizers $2 Domestic Longnecks 6 for $9 Domestic Buckets
By James Weber jweber@nky.com
The Heritage Academy Eagles boys’ basketball team has five seniors and three starters back as it looks to improve on a 6-16
record from last year. Despite a lack of size and depth, the Eagles suffered five of their losses by four points or less, including falling on a buzzer-beater to Cooper in the district tour-
8PM - 1AM
$5.50 Domestic Pitchers All Day - All Night! 4796 LIMABURG RD. (INTERSECTION OF LIMABURG & CONRAD) BURLINGTON, KY • 859-817-0263 HOURS: MON-THUR 1PM-1AM • FRI & SAT 1PM-2AM
TAKE THIS AD TO ANY BOWLING ASSOCIATION CENTER FOR
GAME 1 FREE OF BOWLING
0000363757
9PM - 2AM
nament. The returning starters are senior forwards Chris Tarvin and Austin Brunner; and senior guard Darnell Bonner. Brunner averaged a team-high 10.2 points per game. Senior forward Jacob Saint-Blancard posted 8.1 points and Bonner tallied 7.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Senior Chris Mains also returns and junior forward Peter Wiley is the top newcomer. Howard Davis returns for
La Ru Bowling Lanes (859) 781-2111 LaRuLanes.net Southern Lanes (859) 635-2121 SouthernLanes.com Super Bowl Erlanger (859) 727-2000 Bellewood Lanes (859) 781-1211 SuperBowlNKY.com Walt’s Center Lanes (859) 431-2464 www.WaltsCenterLanes.webs.com 1 coupon per person per visit. Other restrictions may apply. Call center for details.
Laptops $
19
99 per
week
78 weeks
Leas e Z one 7303 Turfway Road
859-647-2160
Heritage boys
Game days
Dec. 8 @ Beechwood Dec. 12 @ Evangel Christian –6:30 p.m. Dec. 15 Dayton Jan. 4 @ Silver Grove Jan. 9 Beth Haven Jan. 11 Villa Madonna Jan. 14 @ Ludlow Jan. 18 @ Lloyd – 5 p.m. Jan. 25 Beechwood Feb. 5 @ Dayton Feb. 9 Silver Grove Feb. 16 @ Villa Madonna Feb. 19 Ludlow Feb. 20 @ Augusta All games are 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. his second year back as head coach after starting the program 20 years ago. Heritage starts at home against Eminence Dec. 5.