Putting a bow-tie on the basketball season

BY EVAN DENNISON | LINK nky SPORTS EDITOR

If the 2022-23 season could be described in a few short words, the season of record-breaking performances is the way it could be summarized.

Whether it be Holy Cross senior Jacob Meyer breaking the all-time scoring record in the Ninth Region or St. Henry boys basketball coach Dave Faust breaking the Ninth Region wins record, plenty of milestones were reached during the season.

Over the course of the season, it may seem rather long come the dog days of late January, early February, but in reality it’s a 12week sprint to Rupp Arena.

There were banner seasons, and not just on the regional level. Holy Cross’ girls team won the All “A” state tournament for the second time in program history while the boys’ team at Holy Cross came up just short in the championship game, trying to become the first school to claim the smallschool titles in the same season. Julia Hunt was named MVP on the girls side while Meyer was MVP on the boys side. Hunt just missed a triple double in the finale, posting 21 points, 19 rebounds and nine blocked shots against Bethlehem. Meyer posted 49 points in the championship tilt against Evangel Christian, scoring 157 points in the state tournament for an All “A” all-time record in the tourney.

Meyer finished his senior season as the leading scorer in the state for the second straight season, this time finishing with 36.8 points per game, a slight drop from his 38.2 points per game during the 202122 season. He has his choice of about 15 colleges of where he’ll play next and at the time of this column, that decision has not been made yet. Meyer finished with 3,280 points and was named Co-Ninth Region Player of the Year along with Covington Catholic senior Evan Ipsaro, who averaged 25.2 points per game, 5.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds a contest. Ipsaro will be taking his talents about two hours north to Miami of Ohio.

How about the long-distance shooters? Highlands’ Will Herald can claim the Ninth Region all-time 3-point shots made record with 343 and top 10 all-time in KHSAA history. Notre Dame sharpshooter Noelle Hubert was awarded after the season for leading the state in 3-pointers with 3.6 per game. Hubert is headed to Northern Kentucky University to continue her education and basketball career.

A talented brother-sister duo at Conner accomplished a feat that’s never been seen in Hebron. Landen and Anna Hamilton clearing the 1,000-point plateau in a matter of days from one another. Landen graduates in May while Anna still has a senior year to go.

Another Hamilton had a special season, this one at Campbell County as Aydan Hamilton set the Camels all-time scoring mark and finished his high school basketball career with 2,216 points. Hamilton is one that can be labeled a “special” athlete as he’ll be headed to the University of Kentucky in the fall on a baseball scholarship. Hamilton heads out with his coach, Aric Russell, who retired after the season with the most wins in program history, 274 of them in 13 seasons with the team.

Back to the 33rd District, the competitive nature continues to be the cream of the crop not only in the region, but across the state. Cooper and Ryle’s girls basketball programs have developed quite the rivalry as they met in the Ninth Region final for the second straight year, Cooper getting the best of the Raiders one more time as they repeated in their return to Rupp. Whitney Lind finished her high school career as the Jaguars second all-time leading scorer and the Ninth Region Player of the Year will continue her education and playing career at Lehigh. Ryle’s Abby Holtman also had a record-setting season, becoming the program leader in made 3-pointers. She’s headed to the University of Cincinnati to continue her career. And on the boys side, the Jaguars showed a great display of resiliency, battling through not one, but two injuries of their top players and making a run to the region final with a district title that came with it beforehand.

Simon Kenton’s Gabe Dynes also received an end-of-season award on the state level, leading with a 73.9 field goal percentage. The 7-foot-3 center is headed to Youngstown State in the fall. And for the Lady Pioneers, Brenden Stowers took over for his father Jeff this season and led them through a magical run in the Eighth Region tournament and to Rupp Arena with four of his starting five freshman and younger.

Speaking of youth, Highlands’ girls posted 23 wins with just one senior on the roster and were led by sophomore sensation Ma- rissa Green, collecting multiple triple-doubles this season and doing it the hard way with blocks on top of points and rebounds.

Newcomers to the coaching scene or to their respective new schools or programs got off to quite a start. At Bishop Brossart, Ben Franzen and Steve Brown led their teams to 10th Region All “A” titles while Ludlow boys coach Aaron Stamm led the Panthers to a 19-win season, their most since 2003-04. They were led by Jaxson Rice, who scored 928 points in his senior campaign.

Last but not least, Newport’s boys special season was topped off with a Ninth Region title, their first since 2010. The Wildcats could get familiar with the top spot, Marquez Miller the lone senior on the team this year.

The teams in NKY may have been one and done at the state tournament between the Cooper and Simon Kenton girls and the Newport boys, but the future is bright for those teams and many more as we look forward to the 2023-24 season.

Ryle, Simon Kenton claim region titles in archery

The Ryle boys won the Sixth Region archery title recently at Beechwood High School.

The Raiders posted a team score of 2,006 and defeated the 12-team field by 64, Simon Kenton finishing second with a 1,942. Cooper was third, also with 1,942, but lost out on a tiebreaker.

Ryle had six archers place in the top 15 led by seventh grader Jack Albertson with a 295 and hitting 26 bullseye’s.

Jacob Klette placed seventh with a 288, Trenton Dietz ninth posting a 286 and Nathan Santimaw 10th, also with a 286. Kennan Caudill and Jared Evans rounded out the top 15 with 284’s, placing 14th and 15th, respectively.

It’s the fourth year in a row Ryle qualified for state, Simon Kenton advancing as well with the top two teams qualifying for the KHSAA state tournament in Bowling Green in April.

The following night Simon Kenton won the girls Sixth Region archery title. The Pioneers scored 1,955 points, edging out Ryle by 16 in the 12-team field.

Simon Kenton had four finish in the top 15 led by Lauren Westermeyer in third with a 287. Kilee Spegal finished sixth with a 285, Emma Vicars 10th with a 281, and Macie Smith in 12th with a 281.

Covington Latin’s Monica Juelg took the top spot individually with a 288. Conner’s

Alexis Hunt was second with a 288, Ryle’s Gwen Hamon fourth with a 286, and Boone County’s Annabelle Cline fifth with a 286.

Both programs at Simon Kenton and Ryle will now advance to the KHSAA state tournament on April 18 in Bowling Green.

NKU has six hit the transfer portal

The Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team has had six players enter the transfer portal since the end of the season.

The first two came when sophomore Isaiah Mason and freshman A’lahn Sumler announced their intentions. Sumler was in the bench rotation during his freshman season, playing in 22 games and scored a season-high 14 points against Detroit on January 8. He was named Horizon League Freshman of the Week on December 19 after two solid games against Eastern Kentucky and Miami-Hamilton, where he scored 12 points each in those contests.

Mason appeared in 22 games in two seasons in Highland Heights. He never really got into the rotation the past two seasons, playing 84 minutes in that span.

Three days later, Jake Evans and Hubertas Pivorius entered their names into the portal. Both were mainly role players off the bench with Evans starting one game this season and Pivorius knocking down 60 three-pointers the past two seasons.

Noah Hupmann was the fifth Norse player to enter the portal. Playing three seasons in Highland Heights, Hupmann appeared in 30 games over that time. He played in just three games in the 2022-23 season.

Imanuel Zorgvol became the next Norse player to test the portal waters, making his intentions known on March 28. Zorgvol appeared in 32 games in his lone season in a Norse jersey, averaging 2.6 points per game and 2.8 rebounds per game with 21 blocked shots. His role was expected to increase with Chrs Brandon graduating.

As it currently stands, NKU will bring back: Trey Robinson, Sam Vinson, Marques Warrick, LJ Wells, Mitchel Minor, Cole Sherman and Cesar Tchilombo. Minor and Sherman are walk-ons. With the departures of Trevon Faulkner, Chris Brandon and Xavier Rhodes to graduation and with the six that have entered the portal, it potentially creates seven roster spots with two incoming freshman confirmed. The Norse’s 2023 recruiting class currently has two confirmed or signed: Lloyd Memorial’s Jeremiah Israel and Bessemer City’s (NC) Randal Pettus II.

The Norse won their fourth Horizon League conference tournament title this season since 2017 and made their third NCAA tournament appearance, losing to Houston 63-52 in the first round.

Goetz retiring after 10 seasons at Beechwood

The all-time winningest coach in Beechwood boys basketball program history is retiring.

Head coach Erik Goetz announced that he is retiring from coaching after 10 seasons with the team. Goetz helped build a culture and tradition in the program over the last decade. He successfully carried out his vision to completely rebuild and rejuvenate the program.

Goetz says that coaching basketball can be both exhilarating and rewarding in many ways, but the time and stress involved can also take their toll and now is the right time to step away, the school released in a statement.

In his tenure, Goetz won 160 games, the program’s first ever All “A” Ninth Region Championship, landed a spot in the Ninth Region Tournament in three of five seasons, made an unforgettable run to the Ninth Region Championship game in 2019 (on the heels of a school-record 29 victories that season) and achieved success at the younger, more developmental levels of the program.

Beechwood has captured back-to-back junior varsity region championships, middle school championships and created a youth summer camp that averages 120 children every summer.

Before making the move to Beechwood, Goetz coached at Holy Cross and won 129 games in Covington. He was a standout player for the Indians as well, fifth all-time in KHSAA history with 315 assists and helped lead the 1991 team to Rupp Arena for the Sweet 16.