By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Zoie Barth, the second leading all-time scorer for the Highlands girls basketball program, announced on Twitter that she will continue her academic and athletic career at Thomas More University.
Zoie Barth
During her six-year varsity career, Barth scored 2,416 points for the Bluebirds. The 5-foot-8 point guard also ranks among the team’s all-time leaders in assists and steals. Over the last four years, Highlands compiled a 97-33 record with her in the starting lineup.
Barth averaged 19.3 points as a senior and was voted Division II Player of the Year by local coaches for the second straight season. She was also named to the 9th Region all-tournament team for the third straight year and among the nominees for Miss Kentucky Basketball.
One of the top students in her senior class, Barth said in an earlier interview that she wanted to select a college that would provide the best path to her long-range goal of becoming a doctor.
“Basketball is extremely important to me and I want to continue my career because I love the sport,” she said. “But my education is also extremely important to me, and always will be. So it’s a matter of finding that balance between a good team that I’ll be comfortable with at a good academic school.”
Thomas More won the NCAA Division III women’s national championship last season and finished with a perfect 33-0 record. Barth will be helping the Saints make the transition to NAIA competition next season.
Tough stretch ahead for unbeaten Beechwood baseball team
Beechwood remains the only undefeated high school baseball team in Kentucky with a 20-0 record, but the Tigers face a tough stretch of games that begins at 8 p.m. Friday when they take on defending 9th Region champion Highlands in a Skyline Chili Reds Futures Showcase game at Great American Ballpark.
Highlands eliminated Beechwood in the 9th Region playoffs four of the last five years and currently has a six-game winning streak against the Tigers. Last year, the Bluebirds won all three games between the two teams, including an 11-1 victory in the regional semifinals.
This season, the Bluebirds have won seven in a row and take a 16-4 record into their next two games against Cincinnati Moeller on Thursday and Beechwood on Friday.
After the late game on Friday, Beechwood players need to hurry home and get some rest. They’ll be getting up before dawn on Saturday morning and make the long drive to Owensboro to play in the Kentucky All “A” Classic. The Tigers won last year’s small-school state tournament and they’ll face Williamsburg in the opening round of this year’s classic at 11 a.m. (CST) Saturday.
Beechwood also has seven games scheduled during the first 10 days in May. That run includes district seeding games against Holy Cross (May 1) and Covington Catholic (May 7) and a rematch with Highlands (May 3).
Simon Kenton girls archery team will defend state title Tuesday
The Simon Kenton girls archery team that won last year’s state championship trophy with just one senior in the lineup will defend its title on Tuesday at Ephram White Gymnasium in Bowling Green.
The Pioneers won the Region 6 qualifier earlier this month to earn a return trip to the state tournament. The team’s top scorers in the regional were sophomore Paige Robbins, freshman Kennedy Wyatt, sophomore Grace Hofstetter and junior Holly Snow.
In last year’s state tournament, Snow placed third and Robbins placed seventh in the individual standings to lead Beechwood to its first ever state championship in a girls sport.
Ryle qualified for next week’s girls state tournament as the Region 6 runner-up. The two local teams in the boys state tournament are Ryle and Covington Latin. Individual state qualifiers include Calvary Christian senior Jonathan Stonis and Cooper sophomore Makenna Lanham, who posted the highest boys and girls scores in the Region 6 tournament.
