By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Five of the top 10 teams in the Northern Kentucky boys basketball preseason coaches poll will play scrimmage games against Ohio opponents during the Kelsey Sorrell Memorial Scholarship fundraiser on Saturday at Simon Kenton High School.
Covington Catholic, the defending state champion and top-ranked team in the coaches poll, will play Cincinnati Withrow at 2:30 p.m. in one of eight games on the schedule.
Walton-Verona senior Dieonte Miles
Fans will also get a chance to see Walton-Verona 6-foot-10 senior center Dieonte Miles, a Xavier University recruit, in his team’s 11:30 a.m. game against Oak Hills.
Other teams ranked in the Northern Kentucky Boys Basketball Coaches Association poll that will take the court on Saturday include No. 4 Scott, No. 5 Simon Kenton, No. 6 Dixie Heights and No. 10 St. Henry.
Walton-Verona was not included in the coaches poll because it’s not a member of the association. Conner and Newport Central Catholic round out the list of local teams playing in the pre-season scrimmages.
Donations will be taken at the door Saturday for the scholarship fund named in honor of Kelsey Sorrell, who died in an automobile accident in 2008.
Here is the complete schedule of scrimmage games:
St. Henry vs. Harrison, 8:30 a.m.; Conner vs. Cincinnati Country Day, 10 a.m.; Walton-Verona vs. Oak Hills, 11:30 a.m.; Simon Kenton vs. North College Hill, 1 p.m.; Covington Catholic vs. Withrow, 2:30 p.m.; Dixie Heights vs. LaSalle, 4 p.m.; Scott vs. Roger Bacon, 5:30 p.m.; Newport Central Catholic vs. Taylor, 7 p.m.
Basketball fundraiser cancelled due to scheduling difficulties
Organizers of the Bluegrass-Buckeye Charity Classic have cancelled the annual boys basketball fundraiser at BB&T Arena because of scheduling difficulties.
They planned to play the games during the weekend of Jan 11-12, but the Northern Kentucky University men’s and women’s basketball teams needed to schedule Horizon League conference games at the arena on those days.
Mike Listerman, who started the classic in 2001, said several alternate dates were considered but none of them could be worked out.
Mike Listerman
“The bottom line is that the high school teams have their schedules set by early April,” Listerman said. “When we found out in mid-summer that we had to switch weekends, it created a scheduling nightmare for the teams involved. Over the last four months, I thought we had it worked out several times, but with each alternative we kept running up against insurmountable obstacles.”
Listerman said organizers of the classic will get together after the first of the year to discuss the future of the event.
Since its inception in 2001, the Bluegrass-Buckeye Charity Classic has raised more than $247,000 for local charities, according to the non-profit group.
St. Elizabeth Healthcare was the primary sponsor for last year’s classic that included games in both Kentucky and Ohio. The three games played at BB&T Arena on Sunday, Jan. 21 raised most of the $14,000 that was distributed to the Ruth Lyons Children’s Fund, Neediest Kids of All, St. Elizabeth Foundation and Chicks and Chucks, a breast cancer support group.
Bob Griffin, chairman of the BBCC and director of Griffin Elite Sports & Wellness, plans to continue the event and contribute each year as a major sponsor.
“Not only will we be back,” Griffin said, “but we believe we can continue to deliver to the public a quality product and agenda so we can remain a dependable resource for the selected charities of the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area. The board is pleased with what we have contributed to the local charities and look forward to progressing our goals.”
Canceling the classic this season means high school teams will not get a chance to play at BB&T Arena until the 9th Region tournament begins there in late February.
“What I hate the most is that we will not be able to help a lot of needy people right here in Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati like we have for the last 17 years” Listerman said. “That is truly disappointing.”
Five local volleyball players named first-team all-state by coaches
St. Henry seniors Maria Tobergte and Bridgett Bessler were among five local players named first-team all-state by the Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association for the 2018 season.
Bessler was the setter and Tobergte the leading hitter on the St. Henry team that won the 9th Region championship and made it to the semifinals of the state tournament.
The list of the top 16 players in the state also included Morgan Kelly of Cooper, Belle Morgan of Notre Dame and Lucy Trump of Ryle. Abby Noll of Notre Dame was a second-team all-state selection. The honorable mention players included Shannon Gormally of Notre Dame and Irene Wogenstahl of Dixie Heights.
Northern Kentucky volleyball coaches voted for all-opponent teams in three divisions. Here are the players who received awards at a ceremony held earlier this week.
NORTHERN KENTUCKY VOLLEYBALL ALL-OPPONENT TEAMS
DIVISION I
Player of the Year – Morgan Kelly (Cooper).
Coach of the Year – Michelle Isaac (Cooper).
First Team – Belle Morgan (Notre Dame), Lucy Trump (Ryle), Irene Wogenstahl (Dixie Heights), Leah Metzger (Dixie Heights), Hannah Wells (Campbell County), Abby Noll (Notre Dame).
Second Team – Kaitlyn Luebbers (Cooper), Shannon Gormally (Notre Dame), Jordan Bridges (Simon Kenton), Brooke Hall (Ryle), Lily Klein (Cooper), Joy Strange (Conner), Keaton Mossman (Scott).
DIVISION II
Player of the Year – Maria Tobergte (St. Henry).
Coach of the Year – Angela Hummeldorf (Walton-Verona).
First Team – Bridget Bessler (St. Henry), Margot Seidel (Highlands), Torie Houston (Holy Cross), Caroline Schilling (Beechwood), Zoe Epplen (St. Henry), Elena Schmidt (Newport Central Catholic.)
Second Team – Lexie Eten (Walton-Verona), Audrey Graves (Highlands), Marie Kiefer (Brossart), Torri Wurtz (Holy Cross), Madison McCloskey (Newport Central Catholic), Taylor Preston (St. Henry).
DIVISION III
Player of the Year – Madison Stansberry (Ludlow).
Coach of the Year – Jodi Schmidt (Ludlow)
First Team – Marley Jackson (Covington Latin), Anna Wolf (Calvary Christian), Maria Hernandez (Ludlow), Anna Wagner (Villa Madonna), Denise Foltz (Covington Latin), Emma Donelan (Dayton).
Second Team – Melissa Kearney (Lloyd), Caroline Abney (Calvary Christian), Nina Schilling (Heritage), Sophia Halfhill (Dayton), India McRae (Lloyd), Brooke Meier (Villa Madonna).
DENA GOSNEY SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS
Winner – Madison Stansberry (Ludlow) $300 scholarship.
Finalists – Hannah Wells (Campbell County), Kayla Kluemper (St. Henry), Anna Wagner (Villa Madonna) $150 scholarship each.
