A nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism

Local teams facing each other in girls’ state basketball tournament has never happened before


By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter

Two teams from Northern Kentucky will face each other in the St.Elizabeth Healthcare/KHSAA Girls “Sweet 16” state basketball tournament for the first time ever on Thursday when Ryle meets Simon Kenton at 8 p.m. at BB&T Arena.

Ryle (28-6) will be making its debut in the state tournament as the 9th Region champion. Simon Kenton (20-10) earned its fifth appearance in the season finale by winning the 8th Region tournament title.

Junior guard Lauren Schwartz is the leading scorer for Ryle. (Photo by Bob Jackson)

Ryle coach Katie Haitz has been to the state tournament once as a player and three times an assistant coach at Boone County. She’s glad to be going back with her Ryle team that lost in the first round of last year’s district playoffs and was 9th Region runnerup in 2016.

“We’ve been building for this all year and they worked so hard so I’m really proud of them,” Haitz said after the regional final. “We’ve been talking about going to state all year and we’re excited to get there.”

The Raiders have two juniors, two sophomores and a freshman in the starting lineup. The team leaders are junior Lauren Schwartz and sophomore Maddie Scherr, who have nearly identical statistics.

Schwartz is averaging 17.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game and shooting 46 percent from the field. Scherr is averaging  16.2 points and 7.6 rebounds and shooting 48 percent from the field.

Simon Kenton has a solid group of seniors in Shelby Harmeyer, Megan Buckner, Kayla Krohman and Ally Niece, who missed most of the season while recovering from knee surgery.

The Pioneers’ top three scorers are sophomore Morgan Stamper (14.3), Harmeyer (13.6) and sophomore Maggie Jones (13.0). But Niece was named most valuable player in the 8th Region tournament after getting 41 points and 15 rebounds in three games.

“I wanted to come back and help my team get back to state,” said Niece, a Northern Kentucky University recruit. “After having the season that we were having, we were able to put everything together at the right time.”

Niece was out of action in both of her team’s regular season games against Ryle. The Raiders won a home game, 71-54, in late November and beat the Pioneers again, 58-53, during a Christmas holiday tournament.

With Niece back in the lineup, Simon Kenton coach Jeff Stowers has high expectations for his team going into the state tournament.

“We’re going there to win,” he said after the regional final. “We know what it takes and we’re going to throw it all on the line and see what happens.”

GIRLS BASKETBALL STATE TOURNAMENT GAMES
Wednesday — Upper bracket
Owensborto Catholic 56, Johnson Central 46
Elizabethtown 62, Bowling Green 41
Mercer County 55, Murray 44
Clark County 70, Harlan County 56
Thursday — Lower bracket
Louisville Mercy vs. Knott County Central, noon
Scott County vs. Louisville Manual, 1:30 p.m.
Boyd County vs. Webster County, 6:30 p.m.
Ryle vs. Simon Kenton, 8 p.m.
Friday
Upper bracket quarterfinals, noon and 1:30 p.m.
Lower bracket quarterfinals, 6:30 and 8 p.m.
Saturday
Semifinal games, 6:30 and 8 p.m.
Sunday
Championship game, 2 p.m.


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