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Prep Sports Notebook: Beechwood hires former player’s father as girls’ head basketball coach


By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter

The new head coach of the Beechwood girls’ basketball team spent the last six years watching his daughter come up through the program and finish as the Tigers’ all-time leading scorer.

Keith Johnson

Keith Johnson applied for the Beechwood coaching job after his daughter, Ally, completed her senior season and he was hired to replace Chris Gramke, who resigned to become girls’ head coach at Oak Hills High School in Cincinnati.

This will be the first time that Johnson has coached basketball on the high school level, but he has been in charge of select teams for several years. This summer, he’s coaching a girls’ high school select team for the Cincy Swish organization.

“It is an interesting contrast,” he said. “On one hand, I have all the enthusiasm that comes with being a first-time high school varsity head coach, but I feel like I’ve got a wealth of experience in coaching to bring to the table as well.”

This is the fourth time in the last five years that Beechwood has hired a new girls’ head basketball coach. The team’s best record during that span was 14-12 in 2013-14. The Tigers posted a 9-16 record last season.

Johnson, a corporate attorney, said he was the team’s official scorekeeper last season when his daughter finished her six-year varsity career with more than 2,000 total points to set a new team record. She was recruited by Bucknell University, an NCAA Division I school located in Pennsylvania.

The Tigers lost three other seniors to graduation and the lone returning starter, Madison Stokes, suffered a knee injury this spring. The rest of the players on the 2017-18 roster will be freshmen and sophomores, including the new coach’s younger daughter, Meredith Johnson.

“We’re hoping Madison Stokes can get back and make a meaningful contribution her senior year, but at this point I don’t really know,” coach Johnson said. “Counting Madison and the seniors who graduated, we lost over 95 percent of our scoring from last year’s team, and I dare say nobody in the state is looking at that sort of statistic.”

With limited varsity experience, the Tigers could have a tough time competing in the 9th Region next season, but the new coach sees better days ahead for the small-school program.

“We have talent, we really do, particularly in the freshmen class,” Johnson said. “It’s just going to take time for them to develop. To me, that’s part of the challenge and part of the attraction. You get to build them up. The administration is very much aware of where we are and what we’re trying to do. We’ll have to have patience until these freshmen and sophomores become juniors and seniors. When that happens, we’ll have something really special here.”

Decision on All “A” Classic tournament site could come in August

Organizers of the Kentucky All “A” Classic small-school state basketball tournaments have a meeting scheduled on Aug. 12 to discuss a new venue for the annual event.

The boys’ and girls’ state tournaments were played at Frankfort Civic Center the last six years. But that arena is part of the state government’s Capital Plaza Complex that’s scheduled to be demolished in November.

Stan Steidel, chairman of the board for the All “A” Classic, said other basketball venues have been submitting proposals to host the dual state tournaments that are usually played during the last full week in January with games scheduled Wednesday through Sunday.

“We’re working with several places and trying to see if we can get something final on Aug. 12,” Steidel said. “We have a board meeting that day and hope our board will vote to do something there.”

Steidel would not say what venues around the state are showing an interest in hosting the classic. The first small-school state tournament was played in Lexington in 1990. The site was Eastern Kentucky University’s McBrayer Arena from 1991 to 2011 before going to Frankfort.

There are 15 high schools in Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties that compete in the boys’ and girls’ small-school basketball playoffs. Several local teams have won All “A” Classic state titles over the years.

CovCath will host four-day Soccerama on newly renovated field

With the permanent light towers installed around the athletic field at Covington Catholic High School this summer, the Colonels will be able to host the annual Soccerama boys’ pre-season scrimmage games on Aug. 2-5.

Seven games will be played in the evening hours on Aug 2-4 and four games will be played in the afternoon on Saturday, Aug. 5 at the newly renovated Wooten Field. The school installed new stands, replaced the press box and remodeled the entrance to the stadium in addition to putting up permanent lights.

The CovCath soccer team that won the 2015 state championship and lost the 2016 title game in an overtime shootout will play Brossart in a Soccerama game set for 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4.

SOCCERAMA SCHEDULE
Wednesday, Aug. 2 — Simon Kenton vs. Cooper, 6 p.m.; Walton-Verona vs. Beechwood, 8 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 3 — Conner vs. Villa Madonna, 6:30 p.m.; Beechwood vs. Carroll County, 8 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 4 — Ryle vs. Campbell County, 5 p.m.; Grant County vs. Calvary Christian, 6:30 p.m.; CovCath vs. Brossart, 8 p.m.
Saturday Aug. 5 — Scott vs. Holy Cross, 12:15 p.m.; Dixie Heights vs. NewCath, 1:45 p.m.; Highlands vs. Boone County, 3:30 p.m.; St. Henry vs. Pendleton County, 5 p.m.


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