SPORTS
A8 • COMMUNITY RECORDER • JANUARY 19, 2012
By James Weber jweber@nky.com
Boys basketball
» Holmes beat Covington Catholic 57-55 Jan. 10 and Holy Cross 64-53 Jan. 12 to gain the top seed in the 35th District Tournament. Against Cov Cath, Jared Martin scored the winning points from the foul line with a second to go in the game. Daquan Palmer led Holmes with 14 points. Against Holy Cross, Dontel Rice had 19 points. » Lloyd beat Beechwood 60-55 Jan. 13. Tyler Bray had 19 points, K.T. Williamsn 14 and Niko Carter 13. » The All “A” boys regionals will be this week. The Eighth Region is at Trimble County, the Ninth Region at Beechwood, and the 10th Region at Bracken County. The finals are 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21, for all tourneys.
Girls basketball
» Holy Cross fell to NewCath 48-29 in the Ninth Region All “A” semifinals Jan. 13. HC fell to 7-8. » Lloyd fell to St. Henry 69-25 in the All “A” semifinals Jan. 13. » Notre Dame beat Sacred Heart 64-52 Jan. 10. Hanna Thelen scored 24 points and three other Pandas had 10. NDA lost to Boone County 68-63 to drop to 12-2, spoiling a 31-point night from Olivia Voskuhl. » Villa Madonna beat Scott Jan. 14, 38-36. Lauren Dumaine had 12 points and Allie Hennard 11. » Local all-tournament picks in the All “A” Ninth Region tourney were Jill Bauer and Savannah Neace (St. Henry), Shelby Rudd (Lloyd), Allie Hennard (VMA), Taylor Brown (Beechwood), Tori Wofford (Ludlow) and Jayden Julian (Holy Cross).
Notre Dame seniors heading to college sports: Front row, from left: Brandi Schwartz, Megan Miller, Sydney Scheben, Kristen Schellhaas, Carly Scheper. Back row: Ali Cheesman, Caitlyn Forman, Shelby Reid, Lindsay Hartmann, Chandler Clark, Emily Schmahl and Madie Cook. JAMES WEBER/THE COMMUNITY RECORDER
NDA celebrates signings Notre Dame Academy honored 12 seniors who will be playing college sports next year. Here is a list:
Golf
» Ali Cheesman, Bellarmine. She played golf for four years and tennis for three. She was regional and conference runner-up this fall, helping the Pandas to the team regional title.
RECORDER
Editor: Melanie Laughman, mlaughman@communitypress.com, 513-248-7573
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DIXIE ENJOYING HOME AFTER HOLIDAYS Colonels upset Cincy’s Lakota West to go 11-5 By James Weber jweber@nky.com
EDGEWOOD — They didn’t spend much time over the holidays on their home floor or enjoying wins. The Dixie Heights High School boys basketball team are enjoying both things lately, especially Jan. 14 when the Colonels picked up arguably their biggest win of the season. Dixie Heights beat Lakota West, 6661, improving to 11-5 by beating one of the Cincinnati area’s top teams. Sophomore guard Brandon Hatton broke a 61all tie at the foul line after being fouled on a three-point shot with 1.8 seconds left in regulation. He had five shots at it after the LW coach received a technical for protesting the foul call. Hatton sank all the freebies and had a game-high 25 points. “We’re trying to get back in the swing of things,” Hatton said. “We kept fighting and trying hard, and we were able to get a big win.” The game was part of the BluegrassBuckeye Charity Classic, a charity event pairing Kentucky schools against Ohio foes. Assistant Roddy Stainforth led the Colonels to their third win in four days, filling in for head coach Ken Chevalier, who is out with a sports hernia. Dixie had beat school district rivals Simon Kenton and Scott earlier in the week. “He has a great system in place,” Stainforth said. “I’ve been with him for eight years. We have a great coaching staff. The kids know what they need to do. This was a program win.” Stainforth is directing a team full of talent trying to defend its 2011 Ninth Region championship. The team is full of confidence as well despite a rough first half of the season. Dixie had lost five in a row in December. Four of them were by four points or less, and only one was to a Kentucky team, a pretty good one in 2011 state runner-up Rowan County, who is still highly ranked this year. Dixie also lost to teams from Memphis, Georgia, New York and Chicago. “We learned we have to keep fighting,” Hatton said. “Every time we got down, we would stay in the game.” Dixie rarely led against Lakota West, who led by double digits in the first half. “If we don’t play the Christmas schedule we did, we don’t win this game,” Stainforth said. “That was coach’s intention when he scheduled the way he did, to get us ready for the big games.” Hatton averages 16.3 points per game and senior forward Parker Stansberry, 13.6. Both are among the top five players in the region. Stansberry, a 6-
Dixie Heights senior Parker Stansberry shoots against Lakota West. Dixie beat LW 66-61 in the Bluegrass-Buckeye Charity Classic Jan. 14 at Dixie Heights High School. JAMES WEBER/THE COMMUNITY RECORDER
foot-5 wing player, has been starting at center as the Colonels have been starting a four-guard lineup with Hatton, Jordan Fox, Juwan Evans and Jordan Hassel. “It’s not my main position, but I’ll do whatever I have to do to help my team to the win,” Stansberry said. “We’re undersized, but we’re trying our hardest,” Hatton said. “We play
more of an open-post style now. (Stansberry) is going to be a guard/wing player in college and he’s stepping up for us. Jordan Hassel is one of the most underrated players in the region. Juwan Evans does all the little things and Jordan Fox makes plays at point guard.” The blue Colonels of Covington See DIXIE, Page A9
Soccer
» Chandler Clark, Western Kentucky. She played basketball and soccer for four years. In soccer, she was a two-year captain and two-year all-region pick, scoring the winning goal in this year's state final. She is a three-year captain in basketball. » Megan Miller, Lipscomb. She played soccer for four years and basketball for two. » Sydney Scheben, Belmont. She was an all-state selection in soccer for NDA's state title team and four-time all-state academic honoree. » Brandi Schwartz, soccer. She was alltourney in the state tourney during NDA's title run.
Swimming
» Caitlyn Forman, Auburn. She set state records in the 200 medley relay, 400 freestyle relay and 100 backstroke last year, winning state titles in all three events. She has competed in international events and is a two-time Olympic Trial qualifier. » Carly Scheper, Auburn. She has been on the diving and cross country teams for four years. She will dive at Auburn. She is a seven-time US Diving national finalist and See SIGNINGS, Page A9
CRUSADERS REACH FINAL St. Henry lost to Newport Central Catholic 40-24 in the All “A” Classic Ninth Region final Jan. 14 at Newport High School. Jill Bauer and Savannah Neace were all-tourney picks. St. Henry beat Newport 66-26 and Lloyd 69-25 in the tourney and will take a 14-3 record into rematches against Lloyd and Newport before hosting Dixie Heights Jan. 20 in a 34th District seeding game.
St. Henry center Savannah Neace takes the ball to the net Jan. 14 against Newport Central Catholic in the All A final. GREG LORING/FOR THE COMMUNITY RECORDER
St. Henry guard Jill Bauer releases a shot in the All "A" regional final against Newport Central Catholic Jan. 14. GREG LORING/FOR THE COMMUNITY RECORDER